Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure
by ninjafoxshadow
Summary: Star Fox Adventures the way it should have been! When Fox is called to aid the residents of the mysterious Dinosaur Planet, he finds help in the form of the mischievous Prince Tricky, and an enigmatic blue vixen with strange powers and a clouded past.
1. Chapter 1

**Chp. 1**

Dark rain clouds filled the sky, far as the eye could see. Rain slashed down, blanketing the area in an impenetrable grey veil. Under these conditions, one would expect any person with even a grain of sense to be safely at home; yet, lightning flashes illuminated two figures steadily making their way through the skies in this foul weather.

One was male, a native of this world. He was a Cloudrunner, one of the members of the pterosaur-like inhabitants of this planet, and one of the two ruling tribes. His name was Kite, and he was currently on a special mission, given to him by no less than the Queen Cloudrunner herself.

His passenger was female, and if Kite was saurian in appearance, then hers could be called vulpine. Most males of any mammalian persuasion, and even some not, would consider her to be astonishingly beautiful. She wore only the barest amount of clothing necessary to preserve her decency, with arm, shin, and shoulder guards serving as armor. Her name was Krystal, last survivor of the doomed world of Cerinia. She was a newcomer to this world, having arrived just a few days ago.

Krystal's current unease had little to do with the weather, or the circumstances that had brought her to this unusual world. For several days, now, she had been plagued by nightmares, always of the same sort: being helpless, forced to watch as her home world disintegrated before her eyes. Those dreams had always ended with the same image, as well; a leering, half-seen face, gloating over the debris field that the only world she had known had become. Somehow, she knew, this nameless individual was responsible for Cerinia's destruction, and even now had designs to finish what he had started by killing her, its lone survivor.

She wiped rainwater from her hair, forcing herself to focus on the issue at hand. Cerinia's violent death was in the past; her mysterious maybe-pursuer was a part of a nebulous future. Making her way through this storm without falling off was the task at present, and if she lost her balance, all her troubles and hopes would swiftly be ended by the immutable law of nine-point-eight meters per second squared.

Krystal started as she realized that Kite had spoken to her. The normally chatty Cloudrunner had been unusually silent, prompting her previous reverie. She answered him in his native tongue, which she had quickly learned after arriving on this world.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said, 'Do you know what we're looking for in this weather?'"

"I received a garbled distress signal as I was passing by this world. It said something about a large palace on a mountain in the middle of a storm, and then it cut off. Whoever they were, they sounded like they were in big trouble. I thought I might be able to help, so I diverted course and came here."

Kite was about to reply when Krystal's danger sense abruptly went off. Without hesitating, she ducked her head just in time to avoid a fireball that came speeding out of the murk. She turned to see more flaming projectiles coming their way, including one headed straight for them. She raised her staff, the only weapon she retained from her home, and began to activate its shield, but the projectile slammed into it before the shield was fully powered. The impact tore the device from her grip, and sent it plummeting into the blank nothingness below her.

"Oh no! My staff!" she exclaimed. She almost told Kite to alter course to follow it, but a more immediate concern caught her attention. The source of the flaming projectiles was coming into view, a massive flying ship, shaped like an ocean-going vessel with wings on the sides and an animated, dragon-like figurehead that growled and hissed on the front. Kite banked down and out of the way of the airship, and came back up as it passed them. Krystal thought they were safe until two cannons on the back started spewing more fireballs at the airborne pair.

"Enough of this," she growled. She focused her mind, and brought her palms together, just barely touching each other. Static crackled and built up as she summoned one of her rarest talents; direct manipulation of energy. She opened her eyes and held her palms out in front of her, and twin orbs of sizzling blue-white plasma leaped from her hands and smashed both cannons into rubble. With the way clear, she bade Kite take her to the deck of the airship. The Cloudrunner perched nimbly on the back railing, and let her slide off his back onto the deck.

"Thank you, I can take it from here, now," she told him.

Kite grunted acknowledgment and took off from the rail. She sensed however, that he didn't go far, that he was hovering just out of sight under the ship, in case she needed his help again. Krystal started across the deck, careful not to be knocked over by the unsecured crates sliding across the surface. She headed towards the front of the ship, where she saw a baby Cloudrunner trapped in a cage. She tried to open the cage, but it was locked, and the metal was far too strong for her to break with her bare hands.

"Wait," said the captive. "You need to explore below decks. The captain of this vessel has hidden something special down there."

Krystal thanked the Cloudrunner, and started back towards the other end of the ship. A door set into the rear of the ship opened at her touch, and she took the stairs down, senses alert for any of the crew. The cargo hold was deserted, but there were a few individuals in the cockpit of the flying vessel. Krystal began searching among the boxes and crates scattered throughout the cargo hold, until something glittering gold caught her eye. It was a key, though to what she did not know. She tucked the key under her right-arm bracer, and headed back up the stairs. She approached the baby Cloudrunner's cage again, to see if perhaps this key could unlock it, but before she got there, the doors to the cockpit flew open, and a huge, hulking Sharpclaw bounded out. He was clad in form-hugging leather armor, a horned helmet on his head, and bore a large sword sheathed at his side. His right hand had been replaced by a two-pronged metal claw.

"General Scales," he said by way of introduction, "ruler, dictator, and tyrant of this planet. What brings one such as you to my world?"

Krystal's breath caught in her throat. Kite had told her about the Sharpclaw's chieftain, about his ruthlessness and brutality, but now did not seem like the time for a confrontation with him. "I'm not here to fight," she told him. "I came here because of a distress call."

Scales chuckled. "A distress call? My dear, the entire PLANET is in distress."

He turned to go back to the cockpit, but Krystal interrupted him. "The Cloudrunners told me about you; the evil General of the Sharpclaw tribe."

Scales had the nerve to look hurt at her accusation. "My girl, I am not evil," he protested. "You see, I rule over the various tribes of this world, and I must rule by fear. Otherwise the tribes always try to fight against me. If they would just accept my rule, then there would be no conflict." As he was speaking, he began to poke at the captive Cloudrunner with his artificial claw. Krystal rushed him, knowing that a fight was not likely to end in her favor, but furious that he would torment a helpless creature like the baby Cloudrunner. If she could just distract him from his sport, even for a moment...

The battle was over before it had even begun. Scales saw her approach and swept her up in his real hand. His hand dwarfed her head, and his fingers closed around her throat and chest and threatened to crush the life out of her. She hammered her fist on his hand, but may as well have been pounding on plate armor for all the good it did.

"Did you seriously think you could challenge me?" he hissed into her face. "No one can defeat General Scales! Now witness your end!" He hefted her up into the air and threw her over the side of the airship.

Krystal tumbled through open air with a wordless scream. She closed her eyes against the rushing wind, certain she would plummet to a messy end. However, her plunge was interrupted only a few seconds down by Kite's timely arrival. He dove underneath her and caught her on his back. Krystal wrapped her arms securely around his neck, shaking with nerves and adrenaline at the fate she had narrowly avoided.

"Th-thank you," she whispered hoarsely to him.

"You're welcome. Krystal," he replied. "Isn't it good to have friends in high places?" She chuckled weakly at his pun.

Kite flapped back up to the level of the airship deck. Scales's eyes bugged out at seeing the vixen safe and sound, only a stone's throw away from him. If there were any stones there to throw on the deck, she might not have been so smug, but she couldn't resist taunting him: "Bad luck, General! Maybe next time?"

"This is NOT over!" he bellowed after her as Kite took her away from the airship.

Krystal had other priorities higher than worrying about the impotent threats being shouted in her direction. "Let's see if we can find the source of that distress signal." Kite squawked acknowledgment, and banked north, following a course she could only guess at.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chp. 2**

Krystal and Kite flew through the storm, headed to where Kite thought the distress signal may have come from. Krystal had no idea where they were headed, but Kite seemed to know where he was going, so she led him fly as he saw fit. Gradually, however, curiosity about their destination got the better of her.

"Kite, where exactly are we going?"

"There's only one place I know of on this planet that matched the description you gave," he told her. "If Scales's goal really is complete dominion over this entire world, he will eventually have to take Krazoa Palace. But Krazoa Palace is the most heavily guarded place on this world."

"I see," Krystal said. "Why the long face, then?"

"I was born with it," Kite quipped. Then, on a more serious note, he added; "Krazoa Palace is guarded by several groups of Earth Walker soldiers. Despite the animosities between our tribes, I still have the utmost respect for them. There are no more powerful fighters on this world, except for the Redeyes. If that distress signal DID come from Krazoa Palace, then things are worse than even the Queen feared. It would mean that Scales has gained an unprecedented level of power."

Krystal was silent, contemplating the information she had just learned. From the impression she had gotten from her brief encounter with the Sharp Claw chieftain, he seemed to be one of those individuals whose sole obsession was the acquisition of power; he would never be satisfied with anything, not even world domination; she feared what he would do to achieve that goal, and what he might do if he succeeded. For a brief moment, her thoughts flashed back to her home world's death. She suddenly remembered the same impression from the strange figure gloating over its ashes; an all-consuming, insatiable lust for power, coupled with a complete disregard for those who might stand in the way. Her own quest for answers seemed to take on greater significance, but the petty would-be dictator of this world had to be defeated first.

"We're there," Kite announced, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Let's see if this is where the distress signal came from," Krystal replied.

"There" turned out to be a massive stone-block building, far larger than anything Krystal had ever seen before. The Palace was already situated high on a mountain top, and the top spires rose to incredible heights above that. Not only was its height impressive, but the width of the building was mind-boggling as well. The balcony on which Kite landed could have easily accommodated her shuttle with room to spare, and the rest of the Palace was equally massive in girth. Krystal slid off the Cloud Runner's back, and looked around the place in undisguised awe.

"I've never seen anything this big!" she exclaimed.

"This is the dinosaurs' most sacred site," Kite said from behind her. She turned to see him shuffling nervously on the edge of the balcony. "If you decide to go in, be very careful. There are more things than just dinosaurs that guard this place."

Krystal looked around the Palace again. A vague feeling of unease had begun to settle in her stomach, a feeling that hostile eyes were watching her. It wasn't the immediate tingle of impending danger, but more like a lingering hostile awareness, like a predator lurking in the dark somewhere. Turning to Kite, she asked him, "Could you wait here for me?" His head jerked up and down in his closest approximation to a nod. Reassured that she had a way out if things took a turn for the worse, she began carefully stepping across the balcony, senses alert for any sign of danger.

Across the way she saw a figure slumped in a corner. Breaking into a sprint, she hurried to its side, to encounter her first Earthwalker. He was lying on the ground, breathing laboriously and bleeding from multiple wounds. He stirred slightly at the sound of her footsteps, and his eyes widened in surprise, since she was the first non-dinosaur he'd ever seen.

"What happened here?" she asked him.

"Scales and his Sharpclaws attacked the Palace" wheezed the soldier. "My comrades and I tried to hold them off, but we were no match for them this time." The effort of speaking prove too much of a strain for his injured lungs, as he began coughing. Krystal laid a hand on his snout, using some of her power to soothe his pain. The mortally wounded dinosaur sighed in relief, but all she could do was ease the pain of his passing; the extent of his injuries was too great for her to heal. Frustrated at not being able to save him, Krystal kicked the column that he'd been lying beside. In retrospect, kicking a stone pillar while wearing only sandals on her feet wasn't the best decision; but lately it seemed that everywhere she went, people were being hurt or killed on the whims of some power-hungry tyrant or another. Massaging her aching toes, Krystal spotted a glitter of gold on one side of the wall. Curiosity aroused, she padded over to investigate.

The metallic gleam belonged to a golden padlock on a wooden gate, behind which sat a gray metal barrel of some sort. On impulse, she pulled out the key she had "liberated" from Scales's airship and tested it in the keyhole. It fit perfectly; the lock came loose with a 'snick' sound, and swung loose from the gate. Krystal pushed the gate in, and investigated the barrel. On the side was a warning, written in Lylat standard: "Danger! Contents under pressure! Do not expose to high temperatures or sudden jolts!"

A fuel barrel," she thought to herself. Hearing a sudden chitter behind her she whirled around to see a strange, glowing THING floating near where the Earthwalker had just died. It looked almost like a jellyfish, but within the bell she could see what looked eerily like a large, pulsing brain. It started floating towards her, and began to spin, swinging its tentacles out in the process. Reacting on instinct, Krystal scooped up the fuel barrel and hurled it at the jellyfish-thing with all her might, then ducked behind the pillar and covered her ears. The barrel exploded with a flash and bang that she could easily see and hear even through closed eyes and covered ears. When she peeked out from behind the pillar, the jellyfish creature was nowhere in sight.

A 'hiss-chink' sound brought her attention to a circular design set in the floor of the balcony. An elevator system carried another barrel up to within easy reach. Grinning slightly, Krystal picked it up and looked around for something that needed blowing up. She found her next target in a pile of crates that blocked a ramp leading down to a lower level of the balcony. She chucked the barrel at the crates, and was rewarded by another eye-searing explosion that blasted all the crates into splinters. Krystal trotted down the ramp and was greeted by the sight of two more badly injured Earthwalker soldiers. She knelt by the first, who stirred at her touch.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her. "This place is dangerous!"

"That's no reason for me to turn away, if there's something I can do to help," she told him.

"Scales released a terrible evil into the Palace," he told her. "As the Sharpclaws were leaving, they sealed the entryway. They were afraid of what now lurks inside, and some of our comrades are trapped behind the walls. Unless you can break through stone, there is nothing more you can do."

"Hold on just a moment," Krystal told him. "I'll be right back."

She scampered back up the ramp, and picked up another barrel from the generator, and then turned and headed back the way she had come. It was easy to tell where the new masonry had been placed, as it was unstained by age and looked hastily put together. She hurled the barrel at the wall and saw the bricks and mortar disintegrate in the explosion. Both Earthwalkers started at the explosion, and the one nearer the wall actually tried to sit up to get a better look. He wanted to tell her something, but couldn't project loud enough to make himself heard over the rain that still poured down. However, Krystal sensed his intention and hurried to his side.

"You must be cautious. The guardians of the Palace will attack any who trespass. If you truly wish to help, try to find our captain. He knows more about what has transpired here, what is at stake." He sank back to the ground, exhausted after that speech.

"Thank you," Krystal told him, using some of the same power she had used earlier to help ease their pains. Both of them looked at her with the utmost gratitude, and even though she wished she could do more, her heart was warmed by their thanks. Moving cautiously, mindful of the warnings she had been given, Krystal stepped cautiously through the hallways.

Her caution paid off almost immediately, allowing her to see another of the ethereal guardians before it noticed her. It floated in what appeared to be a dead-end hallway at first, but her keen eyes picked out another of the hastily erected patches like the one she had blown up to get inside in the first place. She looked around for another fuel barrel, and found it next to another Earthwalker soldier. He looked up as her shadow fell across him, and looked astonished to see someone like her in the Palace.

"Please... find our captain," he begged her. "The Sharpclaws sealed him in the inner chambers. I know not what fate has befallen him, but there is a monstrous evil loose in this sacred place."

"I'm looking for him myself," Krystal told him. "Your comrades outside told me he was in here. Are there any others, besides you and him, still trapped in here?"

"None who still survive," replied the injured dinosaur.

Krystal healed the soldier as best as she could. Privately, though, she was glad there weren't many more left in the Palace, since she was starting to tax reserves of energy with every use of her power. If she kept this up, she could find herself exhausted and powerless if that terrible evil the Earthwalkers were talking about happened to show up. She picked up a fuel barrel and balanced it on her shoulder, then started back down the corridor. When the floating jellyfish loomed into view, she launched the barrel at it and watched it disappear in a flash of light and sparks. She backtracked for another barrel, and brought this one to the end of the hallway. She threw this barrel against the wall, and the patch in the doorway crumbled into powder under the force of the explosion. She hurried into the room beyond, and found herself face to face with the Earthwalker captain.

Krystal halted stride for a second. The Earthwalker captain was in just as bad condition as the rest of the soldiers at Krazoa Palace, yet he still clung tenaciously to life. He was covered in multiple gashes, as though some of the Sharpclaws had hacked at him with their weapons while he lay on the ground, and every breath he drew was a struggle for him. She ran quickly to his side and knelt beside him. She started to lay her hands on him, to ease his suffering as she had with the previous Earthwalkers, but he stirred at her touch and said:

"Wait. You must save your strength for the trials ahead."

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"The Krazoa...they need your help. They are dying."

"What are the Krazoa?"

"The Krazoa are Peace spirits," he told her, "powerful beings that bring life to our planet. In the wrong hands, their power could be used for great evil, but they are the only thing that keeps our world green. Without them, this planet would be a barren wasteland. When Scales attacked the Palace he sought to use their power for his own ends. But he did not find what he sought, for the Krazoa were scattered long ago, to prevent one such as him from obtaining the power of the Krazoa. "

"Was it you who sent the distress signal, then?" Krystal inquired.

"Always more questions," said the Earthwalker, but then he smiled. "Yes, when we were attacked, I sent a distress signal, but I didn't think Corneria would respond so quickly."

"I'm not from Corneria," Krystal told him. "I happened to be passing by your world when I received the distress signal. But it was so garbled, I'm not sure anyone else would be able to pick it up. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The Earthwalker was silent for a moment, and Krystal feared he had become too weak to speak. However, he continued on a short while later: "My girl, only those who are pure of heart may take the tests; those who seek to use the spirits to help others, and restore peace to this world, and not for their own selfish ends. If such is your desire, then enter the Krazoa shrine, make your way to the spirit within, and pass the trial it sets for you."

Krystal turned to see a shimmering, slightly raised pad in a small alcove near where the two of them were. She walked towards it slowly, a strange and half-unpleasant thrill coursing through her. She was determined to do all she could to help the inhabitants of this world, yet at the same time wondered if she would be able to overcome the challenges sure to confront her inside the shrine. "I'll never know unless I try," she said to herself. "And it's a sure thing that nothing will happen if I simply stand here." She moved to step on the pad, but halted at the voice of the Earthwalker that lay behind her.

"If you succeed in your efforts," he told her, "then return to me once you have the spirit. I will give you further guidance when you do. Take your time, and avoid haste; I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you," she said to him. Then she turned and stepped on the glowing pad in front of her. For a second nothing happened, but then abruptly light surged out from the floor underneath her feet. It grew too bright for her to see anything else, then as suddenly as it emerged, it disappeared. When her vision cleared, she saw she was in a completely different room than the one she had left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chp. 3**

Krystal stepped off the platform and looked around. Spotting a ladder on the wall to her right, she swiftly made her way to it and ascended. Peering over the top, she saw another glowing jellyfish-like wraith, like she had encountered before, floating around in a shallow pit in the hallway ahead. Krystal wasn't happy about the prospect of having to duke it out with one of those things without any weapon, but then she noticed a ladder on the far wall of the pit, and a fuel barrel resting on the edge of the far side. Briefly, she wondered how it got there, but didn't spend much time pondering it. She steeled herself, and then broke into a sprint; dropping into the pit and doing a shoulder roll to maintain her momentum. The wraith noticed her approach, and began to spin towards her. She ducked and rolled under it as it came by, and came up running again. She scrambled up the ladder at the end, then grabbed the fuel barrel and heaved it into the pit. The wraith was engulfed in the explosion and vanished.

A creaking noise from behind her caused her to turn around. A gate set into the far wall, that had previously been closed, was grinding open seemingly on its own volition. Krystal carefully walked under it, half-expecting it to close on her, but it stayed open. She rounded the next corner and saw a longer hallway blocked off in the middle by two flame jets. In the distance, she could see cracks in the wall at the far end of the room. Another fuel barrel rested nearby, alongside a pad that looked suspiciously like a pressure-sensitive switch. When she stepped on the pad, the flame jets began sliding back and forth on guide rails. Seeing the opening that gave her, she scooped up the fuel barrel, then skillfully wove her way between the jets while they were at opposite ends of the room from each other. When she was close enough, she launched the fuel barrel at the wall and was rewarded by seeing the wall disintegrate into rubble. She walked into the room, and came face-to-face with what could only be a Krazoa spirit.

The spirit was a translucent bluish color. It looked like nothing more than a face with oblong eyes, a dour expression on its mouth, an elongated chin, and either thick strands of hair or tentacles extending out from the back of its head. It seemed to be aware of her approach, for it turned to her as she entered the room, and when she stood in front of it, it spoke softly to her.

"Welcome, last child of Cerinia."

Krystal was dumbstruck. "You know where I come from?!" she asked when she finally found her voice.

"Though we reside here, we know of many things that happen in the galaxy around us," it replied. "When the trouble on this world began, we knew it would only be a matter of time before you came to its aid. You are one of only a few we would allow to use our powers, for your heart is pure and your intentions are noble. If you can master this, the Test of Observation, then I will be yours to return to my proper place in Krazoa Palace. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Krystal said.

"Then let us begin. Watch closely which basket I hide in. If you can find me three times in a row, you will pass the test. But, if you miss even once, you fail."

The Krazoa abruptly vanished in a flash of light, and six wicker baskets appeared around the area in which she stood. The spirit hovered above one briefly, then sank out of sight into the basket, and all six began to move in random patterns around the room. Despite the seemingly random and chaotic motions, Krystal found it was actually no challenge to track the correct basket, so long as she kept her attention firmly fixed on the one in which the spirit had hidden. It seemed like a variation of the bauble-under-a-cup game that many children on Cerinia had played, herself among them. When the baskets stopped moving, she walked up to the one she had kept her attention on, and lifted the lid. "There you are," she said, as she saw the blue glow that signaled the presence of the spirit. It made no reply, but vanished to hover above another basket, then sink into it again. Twice more the pattern repeated itself, then all the baskets vanished again in a shower of sparks.

Krystal saw the Krazoa emerge from a shimmering field set high into the wall at the end of the shrine. "You have passed," it said to her. "I am yours." Without warning, it shot into her body, lifting her up off the floor slightly in the process. Krystal yelped in surprise as her feet left the ground, and feared she would fall, but instead felt herself floating gently back to the floor. She felt a thrill of victory course through her, then the room suddenly seemed to dissolve. The area in her vision rippled and twisted nauseatingly, then she found herself standing on the pad in Krazoa Palace, with the injured Earthwalker lying nearby.

As she walked towards him, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a smooth and polished section of the wall. She started in surprise at what she saw. While her appearance was mostly the same as it had been before, her eyes now glowed with an eerie blue light. In addition, she could feel the power of the Krazoa surging within her, power so strong she felt she might burst with its sheer might. When she turned to face the Earthwalker captain, he rose slightly from his position on the floor, awed by what she had been able to do.

"So you have returned," he said. "And I see that you have proven yourself pure of heart. You may be the answer to all of our prayers."

"What, ME?" Krystal said in surprise. "I...I'm just a drifter with no place to call home, searching for answers as to why my world was destroyed. How could I possibly save another world?"

"My dear, you underestimate your own strength. Often the greatest obstacle to accomplishing a great feat is overcoming doubt in one's own ability to succeed. You must believe that success is possible, otherwise you are doomed to failure before you even begin."

"I hope I will prove worthy of your faith in me," Krystal said to him. "Just one more question; why must the spirits be gathered here in the Palace?"

"The shrines keep the Krazoa safe, out of reach of those who would use their power for evil. But in the shrines, their power is largely ineffective. Only when all six have been gathered here can they be used to heal our world and end this war for good."

Krystal stood there, silent and motionless for a long time, then she knelt beside the injured Earthwalker and rested her palms on his snout. "A way of saying 'thank you,'" she told him softly, "both for your advice and your encouragement." She let her powers flow, to heal the injured dinosaur, and, amplified by the Krazoa within her, they surged through him, closing his gashes, mending broken bones, and restoring his body to full health in an instant.

Both the healer and the patient were astounded by what she had been able to do. He got shakily to his feet, then bowed deeply to her. "I am forever in your debt for this kindness," he said to her.

She patted his snout gently, then turned to the wall behind him. She stepped on a short pedestal set into the floor, and it began to rise. When it had stopped, she stepped off, into another hallway several meters above the floor she left. The hall split a few steps in, paths leading off at right angles to the left and the right. The left branch led out to the central area of the Palace, but it was blocked off by a transparent rippling force field. The right branch led to another glowing pad that rested in front of a stone bust of a Krazoa statue. Krystal stepped towards the statue, moving as though in a half-trance. When she arrived at the pad, she dropped to her knees in front of the statue. She felt the spirit strain to leave her body, and she gasped at the strain. Suddenly she convulsed and doubled over, and the spirit came floating out of her, moving towards the statue. The statue shook and seemed to chitter as the spirit resumed its proper resting place, and the eyes began to glow white.

Krystal stood from her kneeling position and watched the statue. Abruptly the sound dropped several octaves, and the mouth opened and shot out a beam of light across the middle of the hall. Krystal ducked away from the beam as it shot past her, wondering if this was supposed to happen. Her danger sense began to prickle the back of her neck, then suddenly spiked in warning. Without hesitation, she dove to the side and rolled under the beam, then came up to her feet in a combat stance.

For a moment the form of her foe seemed unrecognizable, then abruptly her memory jogged and her eyes widened in horror; this was the same face she remembered from her dreams!

"You!" she shouted.

Her ethereal foe laughed evilly, and lunged at her, intending to drive her into the beam issuing from the statue's open maw. Krystal dodged his first strike, then threw a jab at her opponent. Her fist encountered slight resistance as it passed through her foe, but didn't do any noticeable damage. As her hand touched him, though, an explosion of numbness coursed through her arm. It felt almost as though she had immersed her arm in ice-cold water and gotten an electric shock at the same time. Her enemy laughed at the ineffective attack, although it did seem to have had a slight effect on him. He swung an oversized hand at her again, but she ducked and rolled beneath the strike and came up on the other side of the beam from him. She had a clear path of escape now, and took it, sprinting through the hallway back towards the exit. She dropped off the ledge back into the room with the Earthwalker captain, and rolled to bleed off the momentum of her fall.

Krystal looked up to see her enemy gliding after her. He reached out again to try to capture her, but the captain charged him and slammed through the image of her foe.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted in shock. "You're no match for him!"

"Go!" he shouted in response. "I'll hold him back while you escape!"

Krystal heeded his words and fled down the corridor. Behind her she heard her protector scream in agony, but she dared not look back. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of the sacrifice he had made, but she was determined to not let his death be in vain. She hurtled out of the Palace proper and back onto the balcony, and sprinted up the ramp to the upper level where Kite waited anxiously for her.

The Cloudrunner squawked in surprise as he saw what Krystal was fleeing from. Her pursuer floated through the doorway she had just come through, and started making his way up the ramp. Krystal reached the Cloudrunner and leapt onto his back.

"Go, GO!" she shouted frantically, but Kite hardly needed her admonition. Already on the edge of the balcony, he simply dropped off the ledge and let gravity carry the two of them out of harm's reach. As they fell, Krystal heard a bellow of outrage from her thwarted pursuer. She heaved a shaky sigh of relief; she had been THIS CLOSE to being caught by whatever entity it was that sought her.

After several seconds of free fall, Kite spread his wings and leveled off, translating their considerable downward momentum into forward velocity. Krystal clung to his back, still very much rattled by her encounter in the Palace.

"What was that thing?" Kite asked her.

"I don't know his name," Krystal said, "but he was the one I saw after my homeworld was destroyed. What he's doing here now I can't even begin to guess."

"We need to return to Cloudrunner Fortress," Kite told her. "The Queen needs to know about what has transpired here."

"Let's go, then," said his passenger. "After we're done there, I want to stop by my ship."

"What for?"

"If that thing is lurking around here, I don't want to be wandering around without a means to defend myself. There should be another staff on board; it's a poor substitute for the one I lost, but it's better than nothing."

The stormy weather had abated somewhat during Krystal's sojourn in Krazoa Palace. The setting sun became visible after they left the cover of the cloud canopy. Since they no longer needed to dodge lightning bolts, the airborne duo made good time back towards Cloudrunner Fortress. They were almost there when Kite noticed tremors in the ground below them. The quakes were centered around their destination, and grew more intense every second.

Suddenly Krystal shouted "Break!" as the entire Fortress, along with a good portion of the surrounding terrain, broke free of the ground and began to rise slowly into the air. Kite back winged to avoid debris falling from the now-airborne plot of land, and swiftly flew down to alight on a nearby rock ledge. Krystal dismounted and stared at the spectacle in mingled amazement and horror, unpleasant memories of Cerinia's own destruction resurrected by the sight. However, the damage seemed confined to this one relatively small plot of ground, although she had no idea what the long-term effects on the planet would be.

"This is worse than I feared," Kite said.

"What do we do now?" Krystal inquired.

"We can't reach the Queen now, with Cloudrunner Fortress floating off into space like that. I guess the only option left is to take you to your ship. Do you know where it is from here?"

"It should be about fifty kilometers south-southwest from here," she answered promptly. "Are you sure we should go now. Aren't you getting tired at all?"

"I should be good for that long," Kite said to her. "Although, I could really use a break once we get there. And it's getting dark, so we'll need to stop and rest soon anyway."

"Has it really been only one day since we left? It feels like it's been five," Krystal said wearily. Exhaustion was evident in her posture. "Let's get back to my ship, and then we can rest. Planning can wait until after we've gotten some sleep."

Without further ado, Krystal got on Kite's back again and the Cloudrunner took off, headed on the course the vixen had pointed out to him. Both of them were worn out from the day's events, and eagerly looked forward to a chance for a break. Just a little further and they would be able to rest...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chp. 4**

_Meanwhile, in a remote corner of the Lylat system_...

The Dreadnought cruiser sailed through open space, far from any planet, star, nebula, asteroid field, or really anything at all. The mammoth ship had clearly seen better days, with rust, scorch marks, and missing access panels all along the outer hull giving mute testimony to the time since it had last had a dry dock overhaul. It wasn't that the owners of this vessel didn't care about the condition of the ship that was, for all intents and purposes, home to them. They cared a great deal; they just didn't have the funds or resources necessary to effect the needed repairs. Although faded, the group's emblem was still visible on the tail fin of the ship: a red silhouette of a fox seen in profile, with a wing on its shoulders. Under the emblem, one could make out the team's name, still legible despite the ship's current state of disrepair: "Star Fox".

The crew of this ship numbered exactly three - four if one counted the mechanical entity ROB 64. ROB was currently undergoing a quick maintenance refit, courtesy of the team's mechanic, Slippy Toad. Loud hard-rock music blared in the background, issuing from a dilapidated jukebox that was even older than the ship. The amphibian's head bobbed in time with the music, but he still somehow managed to keep his hands steady enough to fine-tune the adjustments he was making on ROB. With a final twist of the wrench he held, he locked a new module into place and closed the access panel with a flick of his fingers. "That should be it ROB," he told the mechanical entity. "All fixed."

ROB stood up from his hunched-over posture and examined the workings of his refurbished (for the hundredth time) body. "Affirmative," he agreed with Slippy's pronouncement. I'll get back to work."

As ROB moved to return to his duties, the chair at the navigation console spun around, revealing a middle-aged hare with a set of spectacles perched on his nose. "Hey, Fox," he addressed the leader of the group, "isn't this music getting on your nerves? I'm trying to work on my maps here." Peppy had been spending the time recently working on detailed cartographic surveys of every world the team had come across in the past few years. The information gathered was stored in the Great Fox's computer libraries, in case they ever needed it later. However, Peppy disliked loud music, since it tended to break his concentration at inopportune times.

The commander of Star Fox and de facto owner of the vessel the team flew in spun around in his chair to face Peppy. Personally, Fox McCloud liked the music that was currently playing, but he deferred to the wishes of his current nav officer. "Okay old-timer," he replied to Peppy, then turned to the amphibian mechanic and said, "Turn it down Slippy, we're keeping the elderly awake."

"I said maps, not naps!" Peppy huffed at the jibe while Slippy grumbled about having to turn down the music. He tossed the wrench that he'd been working on ROB with at the jukebox, and the music abruptly ground to a halt.

"Hey!" Fox protested. "Take it easy, there's enough stuff breaking down on this ship as it is!"

Slippy rapped the jukebox with his foot and it started back up again, until he turned it off in a more conventional manner. "It still works, Fox, thanks to Emergency Repair Procedure number one."

The group was spared further argument by the beeping of the comm system, signaling an incoming transmission. Fox hit the "Accept" button, grateful for an interruption, and was greeted by the visage of an older bloodhound wearing the uniform of the Cornerian Defense Force. The circle of stars on his epaulets would have indicated who he was anyway, but the face was one Fox would recognize anywhere.

Hey, guys," he shouted to the rest of his team, "it's General Pepper!"

The hare and the toad immediately turned their attention to the hologram floating above the comm console. "General Pepper here," he announced. "How are things going on your end there, Fox?"

They're not," grumped the vulpine pilot. "Things have been dead silent out here for the past several months. No pirates to run off, no would-be dictators trying to take over the system, heck not even a challenge to a duel from Star Wolf. Frankly, sir, we're bored out of our skulls here, and practically broke on top of that." Fox's emerald-colored eyes narrowed slightly. "But I don't think you made a transmission all the way out here just to see how we're faring."

"See Fox, it's wisdom and insight like that which makes you such a good leader," Pepper chuckled at his own quip. "If you're willing, I have a new mission for you and your team, if you're interested."

"We accept," the three on the ship chorused in unison.

"You haven't even heard what it is yet," Pepper said, bemused.

"We're doing absolutely nothing, right now," Fox told him. "And doing nothing pays nothing. If you have something you need us to do, we're all ears."

"All right then," Pepper said. "If you're that eager, then set your course to these coordinates, and I'll brief you along the way."

"You got them, ROB?" Fox called to the robot.

"Affirmative," ROB replied. "Setting course to designated coordinates. Estimated time of arrival, three hours and fifty-three minutes."

"That will be plenty of time to bring you all up to speed," Pepper said. "Well then here's the situation. There's a smallish planet on the outskirts of the Lylat system, with the designation of Sauria. It's also referred to as the Dinosaur Planet, because of the inhabitants there."

"Living, breathing dinosaurs?" Fox was awestruck.

"Living, breathing, talking dinosaurs," Pepper corrected him. "Though apparently they don't speak Lylat standard. You'll need a translator when you go down to the planet's surface. The reason you're only learning about this now is because Sauria, being a technologically primitive world, has stayed under the radar until just now. About a week ago, we received a call for help, from someone identifying herself as the Queen of the Earthwalker tribe. We sent a scout vessel to the planet to do a preliminary scan, to get a better assessment of the situation. You'll see this for yourselves when you reach the planet, but here are the recon photos that it sent back."

Pepper's holographic face disappeared, to be replaced by a representation of the world in question. All three Star Fox members gasped in shock at the sight. "My God in heaven," Peppy whispered, "what happened?"

"As you can see, chunks of the planet have been ... torn out of the surface." Pepper's image reappeared in the comm hologram display. "We don't know how or why this happened, but if this progresses further, if Sauria actually explodes, it could adversely affect the entire Lylat system. The debris would be the immediate hazard, but the alterations to Lylat's gravitic profile could have even more drastic long-term consequences."

"Truth be told, General, Asteroids was never my favorite arcade game," Fox said. "And my experiences in Meteo have taught me that I really would rather not play it for real; real life doesn't give you extra tries or continues." Fox was silent in thought for a moment, then asked, "Any hints on where we should start?"

"We have little idea about what's going on down on the ground," Pepper told him. "But your very first task would be to get down to the planet's surface. The, um, eruptions of those pieces of the planet's surface have strewn a substantial debris field around it; you'll have to land in your Arwing, I doubt anything else is small or maneuverable enough to make it through. Which brings me to another point; you'll need to leave your blaster and every other advanced weapon you have on board the Great Fox."

"What?!" Fox was dismayed at the stipulation. "No offense, General, but if things are as dire as you say they are, I'll need a way to defend myself."

"The reason is that there are elements on Sauria that would actively oppose you," Pepper told him severely. "They're called the Sharpclaws, and the Queen suspects that they are the force behind the current crisis. If you should happen to be captured, she doesn't want advanced weapons falling into their grasp."

"If I had those weapons, I'd probably never be captured," Fox told the general.

"And that brings up MY reason," Pepper replied. "The Queen has indicated that most of Sauria's population is terrified by what's happened to their world. Your typically all-guns-blazing tactics would likely inspire more panic. Besides, this mission is about SAVING the planet, not destroying it. You'll need information, not firepower, and you won't get anything if everyone around you is cowering in fear."

Fox wanted to argue the point further, but knew that there would be no benefit to it. Much as he hated to admit it, Pepper's points DID make a certain amount of sense. That didn't mean he was happy about the restrictions, but he realized that if he wanted this job, there was little choice in the matter.

"All right, General," Fox sighed in resignation.

"You'd probably be better served by weapons that didn't depend on ammunition or recharges anyway," Pepper said to him. "You'll most likely be on your own for the vast majority of your time down there, unless you think Peppy or Slippy would like to join you on the planet's surface."

"I'm a little old to be running around on an untamed planet," Peppy replied.

"If you think I'm a klutz in the cockpit, Fox, wait 'til you see me in a brawl," Slippy said. "You'd probably be better off if you didn't have to keep checking up on us. We'll stay up here and help keep an eye on the bigger picture."

"Thanks, guys," Fox said to them. Then he turned to Pepper's image and said, "Well General, if that's everything, I guess I'd better gear up for an extended ground mission."

"That's the spirit, Fox," said Pepper. "The only thing we know for sure is that you should locate the Queen Earthwalker once you arrive. She should be able to guide you further when you meet her. That's all we know at this point; the situation seems very fluid, and things could quickly change down there. By the way, your fee has been approved. Once you can confirm the mission's success, the money will be forwarded to your account immediately. The sum might change, depending on what all happens down there."

"Upwards, I hope."

"As I said, that depends on what happens. If it changes at all, it'll probably be upwards."

"Estimated time of arrival, fifty minutes," ROB announced from the pilot's station. "Now within maximum range of Arwing fighters."

"If you'll excuse me, General, I have some packing to do," Fox said.

"Good luck, Fox," Pepper said to him. "For all our sakes."

The transmission winked out, and Fox turned to the rest of his teammates. "You heard the General! Let's do this!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chp. 5**

Fox examined the gear he'd packed in preparation for an extended mission on foot. He had enough military rations to last him a week, not that he actually wanted to eat nothing but MREs for a solid week. While the preliminary scans of the planet had shown that it was quite fertile, as would befit a world inhabited by dinosaurs, there were some areas where food might not be so readily available; there was also the chance that things might be unpalatable or even poisonous. MREs weren't the tastiest things around, but despite the recurring jokes they still beat starvation and the risk of food poisoning. The packets were stashed in a battered light green knapsack; along with a couple of bottles of water and purification equipment should it be necessary. That still left plenty of room in the sack, but he wasn't sure if he would have to carry extra items that he found on the planet's surface. His instincts said that this mission was not going to be a simple one like he was used to, and as had been drilled into him since he was old enough to understand the words, he always trusted those instincts. They had gotten him out of several jams during the Venom War.

His musings were interrupted by the approach of the other two organic members of his crew. Peppy would keep an eye on the big picture of the planet, and Slippy would act as quartermaster and give Fox a more detailed rundown of whatever area he happened to be in. Although the two would not be directly involved in the action on the surface, they were nonetheless determined to help their team leader as much as they could.

"Hey Fox, you ready to launch?" Peppy inquired.

"Almost," Fox replied. "I just need to make sure I have everything I'll need. I still hate the thought of facing an unknown world without my blaster, but I guess I'll make do with what I can find, huh?"

"Well, at least you won't be bringing a knife to a gunfight," Slippy said. "From what we can tell from orbital scans, the technology level on this world is at about Stone Age sophistication."

"Thanks, Slip," Fox replied.

The world of Sauria was visible through the atmosphere containment field in the Great Fox's hangar. Fox looked out at the planet, once again amazed at the damage that it had suffered. In addition to the four largest chunks, which seemed incongruously to still be habitable, there was a debris field that hung over most of the planet. The floating rocks were both numerous enough and large enough that Fox would have to fly his Arwing in the rest of the way; a vessel the size of the Great Fox would suffer severe damage if it tried to pass through that mess.

"We'll keep the Great Fox in high orbit above the planet," Peppy informed him. "That'll keep us far enough away that we won't run into anything, but close enough to maintain communications. We still have plenty of supply drop pods; if you need something you don't have, we can stuff it in a pod and have it at your feet within ten minutes. The distance is too great for the Arwing's fuel tanks, especially if you plan on going up to the wayward parts of the planet, so Slippy will drop you some fuel cells you can load in as you need them."

"Oh good," Fox sighed in relief. That meant he would not have to fit everything he might possibly need in the Arwing's tiny cargo compartment. "If I need something I'll be sure to give you guys a call. I guess I'm ready to launch now."

"Good luck," Peppy said to him.

"I'm probably going to need it," Fox muttered. Then, more loudly he said, "You guys head up to the bridge, I'm on my way."

Fox vaulted into the cockpit and sealed the canopy. He ran through the preflight checklist and made sure everything was in working order. This particular Arwing was almost ten years old, and occasionally showed its age in unpredictable ways, but at least this time there were no idiosyncrasies waiting to bite him on the tail. He brought the throttle up slowly and took the Arwing out of the hangar. Fox circled past the bridge of the Great Fox and waved to the other members of his crew before he sped off to the planet.

Fox rolled the Arwing once, overjoyed to be back in the cockpit again, even if it was only for a little while. Even in the middle of celebrating, though, he didn't let his guard down. The moment he entered the outer fringes of the debris field around Sauria, he stopped hot-dogging and began watching for hazards. The first one was a thick cloud of small asteroids, small enough that he could blast a path through them with his lasers, which he did to clear a way through.

After the tiny rocks came a handful of larger ones, but these were large enough that space around them was relatively clear. Fox wove around the bigger rocks with a skill forged in the asteroid fields of Meteo, then leveled out and resumed his course. An even larger, flat piece of the crust floated ahead, and Fox thought things would be all clear, but his sensor-lock warning abruptly chimed, flagging several small craft hiding in the rubble. He identified them as old Venom-produced starfighters.

'What the heck are these things doing here?' he thought to himself. The enemy fighters opened fire but made no concerted effort to track him, which led him to conclude that they were drone-operated. He effortlessly blasted them to dust and continued through. The rest of the flight was more of the same, with asteroids and the occasional drone ship presenting the only hazards along the way. Once he was through, he opened a channel to the great Fox.

"Hey Peppy, did you see those drone fighters?"

"Yeah I did, Fox," the hare replied. "I thought Pepper said those were beyond this world's technology level."

"They were old Venom models, I'd guess refitted with mechanical pilots. But why would anyone from Venom have an interest in this world?"

"Who knows?" Slippy chimed in. "Maybe they were just leftovers from eight years ago?"

"Maybe," Fox reluctantly conceded. "Still, something doesn't feel right about this. You guys keep an eye on the sensors up there, let me know if you see anything suspicious, and I mean _anything_."

"Sure thing, Fox," said Slippy.

Ahead Fox saw the drop canisters for the fuel cells that Slippy had loaded up for him. They coasted through the atmosphere ahead of the Arwing, headed towards the area designated as Thorntail Hollow. One of them suddenly began to wobble, then it broke apart, scattering its cargo across half the planet. Fox stared in shock and dismay, then opened a comm channel.

"Slippy, one of the fuel cell pods just broke up! Half of my fuel supply's just been lost! "

"Huh?!" The amphibian was almost as shocked as the vulpine pilot was. "Well, I packed extras, just in case something like this happened. You should still have enough to go where you need to, and maybe you could find some of the ones that were lost?"

Fox sighed in resignation. While Slippy's words alleviated some of his worry, there was always the matter of lost money; fuel cells weren't cheap. "I suppose I'll have to make do with what I have, huh? I'm bringing the Arwing in now."

McCloud guided his fighter in through the planet's atmosphere, looking for a clearing large enough to land in at the coordinates General Pepper had sent them. He saw one and brought the Arwing in for a landing. Once the aging craft had settled to the ground on its landing pads, he popped the canopy and vaulted out to have a look around.

The first thing he noticed was the atmosphere. Not the presence of air itself, but the heat and the humidity hit him like a steaming wet blanket as soon as he left the cockpit. It was certainly different from Corneria City, which, while on the coast, was still cooler and drier than this area. He looked around, surprised to see that this area looked pretty much untouched by the calamity that was wracking the planet. If he was only judging by the scene here, then there was no indication the world of Sauria was in any danger at all. It was serene, and very beautiful, could have been a picture in a travel brochure if the planet were open to tourists.

Several dinosaurs were scattered across the field, and judging by their general appearance, Fox guessed that they were the Thorntails for which this region was named. He walked up to the nearest one, hoping to get some information on the area, but when he asked about the Queen Earthwalker, the dinosaur mumbled something in an undecipherable language.

Fox flipped on his communicator. "Hey Slip, is the translation module ready yet?"

"Almost ready, Fox. I've got the translation program up and running, but I need to write a program that will allow you to use your PDA to translate on the spot, so you won't have to wait for the computer up here to send the interpretation back to you."

"Okay, but make it quick."

"I'm working on it as we speak. Oh, and the Thorntail said that the Queen Earthwalker had been capture by the Sharpclaws, but that she's still close by."

"Thanks Slip. Fox out."

Fox looked around for any structure that could serve as a prison. A likely candidate was in the southeast corner, but it was closed off and inaccessible for now. That brought up another concern, that of a weapon. He had planned on using whatever he could find on-planet, but now his hand was itching to have his blaster in it. He looked around hoping to find something that he could use in place of his blaster, but nothing presented itself, not even a bow. Fox saw a lump of metal protruding above the ground, and went to investigate. It was the drop pod that had made it down intact. Fox checked inside to see if there was anything he could use, but to his dismay the pod was empty, completely empty.

Suddenly his eye was attracted to a stray blue-white spark coursing up a long polearm-looking object stuck halfway in the ground. As he approached it, he made out details on the object, whatever it was. The knob on top held a blue stone set inside it, and the shaft seemed to be made of a golden metal with blue filigree all up and down its length. The length visible above the ground came up to about chest level on him, although he guessed that at least a third of its length was still embedded in the ground.

"Great," he said to himself. "I found a stick." However, a stick was better than his bare hands for facing down enemies, so he got a firm grip on the shaft and tugged with all his might. The item - it was a staff, he could see now - came loose from the ground in a shower of dirt clods, its full length just slightly greater than his own height. He held it out at arm's length, parallel to the ground, scrutinizing it closely. Suddenly it sparked in his hands and he jumped in surprise, but didn't let go of the staff. He looked at it curiously, and then swore he could have heard a voice speaking to him, in a voice he heard inside his mind.

"If you are listening to this message, then I am in grave danger," said the voice. Fox swore it sounded feminine, as it continued, "The staff you hold in your hands will serve you well in combat, and if you practice with it, your skills will grow. In addition, you can use it to explore the world around you. Don't be afraid to experiment, as it has many uses. Take care of my staff, and it will take care of you." The recording - he had no other way to describe it - ended, and the voice fell silent.

Fox stared at the device in gap-jawed amazement. 'I hope she didn't take offense that I called it a stick,' he thought to himself. He took a few practice swings with it, getting a feel for the heft and balance of the item, then noticed a toggle switch on the side of the staff near where his hand naturally rested. He tapped it once, and the staff shortened itself to a length just greater than that of his forearm. Grinning like a kit with a new toy, he tucked the staff inside a small pocket in his pack, then continued his exploration of the area.

He wandered back to the area where he suspected the Queen was being held. Waist-high stone walls enclosed a small plot of ground in front of a massive sliding stone door set into the cliff. As he approached the door, it slid up into the cliff to allow four bipedal, hunched-over saurians wielding spiked maces to emerge. The Sharpclaws, for that was who they were, formed a line blocking him away from the door, until it slid closed again. Fox drew the staff and extended it to its full length. He squared his shoulders and readied himself for combat.

Although the Sharpclaws were the villains in this situation, for some reason three of them backed off slightly, while the fourth came straight at him. Fox flourished the staff and brought it down on the Sharpclaw's head, knocking the first dinosaur senseless. Seeing their comrade out of the fight so quickly, the remaining three charged him all at once. Fox flailed the staff around in all directions, sometimes whirling it around its center of mass like a baton, sometimes swinging it by one end like a club. When one of his opponents fell off-balance, he dispatched the dinosaur with a roundhouse kick that knocked it unconscious.

The melee lasted for about thirty or forty seconds, but when the dust settled, all the Sharpclaws had been defeated. The opinion of most people regarding the skills of fighter pilots outside the cockpit was well-known, but Fox was no slouch in a brawl. He glanced up and noticed a glowing red panel above the door. 'Was that there before,' he wondered. His thoughts were interrupted by the mystery girl's voice speaking in his head again:

"This message only plays if my staff feels you are truly worthy to be its master. As you travel, you may find that the staff will urge you towards a certain location. Do not be afraid to follow its call, and you will discover that its power will grow along with you."

'Eh? What's she mean by that,' Fox wondered. However, he felt the device guiding his footsteps toward the northeast area of the Hollow. Along the way, he spotted a huge, red mushroom almost as tall as he was. When he approached it, however, it began to shake violently, throwing off a heavy cloud of reddish spores in the process. Fox backpedaled quickly, but not before he'd inhaled a lungful of spores. He collapsed to the ground in a fit of coughing, accompanied by momentary nausea and dizziness. When the choking spell had passed, he got back to his feet. "Note to self; avoid the big red mushrooms," he said to himself.

He continued north, around a large stone well, and found a small cavern, really just a depression in the wall of the cliff that seemed to surround this area. The staff started to buzz and glow in his hands, and he stared at it in amazement. He saw a small hemispherical stone sitting on the cavern floor, so he flipped it over using the staff as a lever. A small hole in the ground was the reward of his scrutiny. He lowered himself in and found a short hallway that led to a pedestal in the center of a circular chamber. He approached the pedestal and saw a slot that looked like the staff would fit into it, so he placed the item in the slot and backed a step away.

Sparks and tendrils of energy traced their way down from the spire above the pedestal and wound their way over the staff. The staff itself pulsed with the energy being poured into it; then the light show subsided, and the staff returned to its normal appearance. Cautiously Fox picked up the staff, 

and examined it again. When his thumb tapped a part near the middle, a red blast of energy sizzled out of the top and left a scorch mark on the wall. Foe grinned in delight, and searched for something to test this new feature on. He saw that a barred gate had come down, blocking the way out, and another red panel like a smaller version of the one before next to it. He pointed the staff at it, and pressed the button again. The energy beam lanced out and hit just below the panel. Fox corrected his aim and fired again; this time the blast was right on target. The panel turned green, and the gate lifted up out of the way. 'This is almost as good as a blaster!' he thought to himself.

He exited the same way he had come in, and made his way back towards the southeastern corner. He took aim at the panel above the door and let fly with another bolt. It struck the panel squarely first time, and the door slid up into the ceiling again. Fox hurried inside and came face-to-face with the Queen Earthwalker. She lay half-slumped on the ground, exhausted after her capture. Fox ran over to her and knelt beside her. "Hi, my name is Fox McCloud," he introduced himself. "Do you need any help?"

The Queen responded in her own language, which Fox had no hope of understanding. He managed to make out "Ice Mountain" and something that sounded like a name. He shook his head in mild exasperation, then activated his comlink. "Hey did you get all that, Slippy?" Slippy's holographic head popped up above the PDA. "She asked you to go to Ice Mountain and rescue her son, the Prince Tricky."

Fox smirked in amusement. "Nice name," he chuckled to himself. Then, as if remembering his manners, he addressed the Queen; "Any suggestions on where I should start?" She responded with more Saurian, prompting Fox to activate the comm again. "You've got to talk to that big stone guy in the garden; she called him a WarpStone," Slippy promptly supplied.

Okay, thanks lady. I'll go find your son right away." As he was walking out of the alcove, he asked Slippy; "Please tell me that translation module is ready?"

"It's almost finished, Fox. I just need a bit more time."

Fox grimaced at the reply but realized that there was little point in hassling Slippy over it; the toad was a superb engineer, and there were some things that just couldn't be rushed. As he was leaving the outer walled area, he spied a plant near a stream, puffing out some sort of gas. Curious, he investigated it more closely, using his PDA to analyze the substance. It flashed a warning that the gas was flammable, giving him an idea. He backed off a few step and blasted the bulbous plant with his staff. It detonated, sending out a shock wave that flattened his fur and left a ringing in his ears even at that distance. He didn't miss noticing, though, that several spore-like seeds had been thrown free of the plant by the explosion. They floated gently back to the ground and he was waiting to pick them up as they landed. He grabbed two, and the third landed in the stream and was swept away.

Fox dropped one spore on the ground and waited for something to happen. Nothing did. Slightly disappointed, he picked the spore back up, placed both in his backpack, and continued his hike. Just a little further around the wall was a crack, and above the wall he could see what looked like the upper half of a huge stone figure. Fox looked down at the cracked wall and noticed the ground there was a different color and consistency than the normal soil of the Hollow. On an impulse, he placed the spore that had failed to sprout earlier into the plot of ground, and the spore sprouted into an exact duplicate of the plant he had gotten it from. He backed away, a little further than the first time, aimed the staff, and fired. The plant exploded, blowing out the section of rock it was next to and kicking up a cloud of dust. Fox waited for the dust to settle, then strode into the isolated garden. He'd seen many things in his life, but nothing prepared him for what he would encounter here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chp. 6**

Fox stepped into the small garden enclosed by the wall and his jaw dropped open. The massive stone statue that sat in the center moved! It resembled nothing so much as the upper half of a huge, immensely overweight, vaguely ape-like individual, although there was no species of simian that Fox knew of that looked precisely like the statue in front of him. It rotated itself by using its heavy arms to push itself around, but otherwise seemed rooted in place. As the vulpine pilot approached it, the statue noticed him and said, in a thick highland drawl, "Weel, laddie what are ye lookin' for?"

Fox's jaw dropped open in astonishment. This statue spoke Lylatian, albeit with a heavy accent but still understandable despite that. He gathered his wits and asked, "Um, are you the WarpStone?"

"Ye got it in one, lad," the WarpStone answered, "but ye dinnae answer mah question; what are ye lookin' for?"

"Ah...can you help me? I'm trying to find the Earthwalker prince, and the Queen said I should talk to you."

The WarpStone waggled an admonishing finger at him. "Ah laddie, ye ask me for a favor, and yet offer nothing in return? That's not good manners here, yah know. Bring me a gift and Ah'll consider your request then, and not a moment sooner."

Fox fumed inwardly at that, but saw little benefit to arguing with a statue that had likely stood for ages in the same place. Instead, he inquired, "So what would make an appropriate gift to a WarpStone?"

The WarpStone looked thoughtful for a second before it answered him. "Weel, now, Ah've always been partial to good rock candy. It's been so long since Ah've had anything like that. Ah do think auld Shabunga the Storekeeper has some in supply; that auld lizard hoards anything he thinks might be valuable, or that he thinks other people might want. Ye'd do well to check out his store, he'll give ye anything ye want, as long as ye have the scarabs to pay for it."

"Scarabs?" Fox asked dubiously. He'd seen, and been paid in, all sorts of currencies, ranging from coins of all sorts of metals, to slips of paper that were worthless on their own, to electronic deposits directly into Star Fox's credit account, but insects were a new one to him. "And just where would I find enough scarabs for that?"

"That's easy, lad. Ye look under rocks, in baskets, anyplace cool and dark and out of plain view. The small green ones are the least valuable; the orange ones are worth five greens, and the gold ones are worth ten."

"Well, thanks, I guess. I'll be back once I've got your candy." Fox walked back out of the garden, on the lookout for anything like what the WarpStone described. A small circle of largish rocks near the entrance seemed like as good a place as any to look, so he pulled out the staff and wedges it under the nearest one. The moment sunlight touched the ground underneath the rock, two large, beetle-like insects with orangish carapaces scurried out from underneath and began skittering around under Fox's feet. He pulled out the staff, carefully making sure that the boulder didn't land on his toes, and chased after the two scarabs.

He grabbed the first one, careful to not let his fingers get too close to the creature's snapping mandibles, then pounced on the second. Both insects emitted a scratching squeal, stridulating in the hopes of startling this strange predator, but Fox was too savvy to be distracted by the noise. The insects both ceased their struggling shortly after he picked them up, and Fox, lacking anything to carry them in, slipped both into his pockets. He shook his head in bewilderment. "This is the first place I've seen where your savings could _literally_ eat a hole in your pocket," he muttered to himself.

Realizing that he had no means of carrying any more, he went straight to the archway that had a pair of scarabs carved into the wall near it. Fox climbed down a rough brick wall, then jogged around a corner and brushed aside a heavy curtain to find himself in Shabunga's Store.

The proprietor was a strange sight even on this strange world. His upper body resembled that of a Sharpclaw, while his lower body was more like that of a snake. On top of that, the storekeeper actually _floated_ a few inches above the ground. He turned to face the entrance as soon as Fox walked past the curtain, and greeted his potential new customer; "Welcome to my zhtore. Feel free to look at the many items within these walls; I have food, zhpecial goods, and many, many maps. You won't find any other place as well zhtocked as mine, no zhir. Oh, and that'zh the exit, of courzhe," he added as an afterthought, pointing back towards where Fox had come in.

"Um...okay," Fox replied uncertainly, still caught off-guard by the situation.

"Now,if you zhee zhomething that you like, then we'll discuzh the price; do you underzhtand me?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess-"

"Good, then hurry up and choose zhomething!" Shabunga snapped impatiently.

"You have rock candy, right?" Fox asked.

"Oh, going to zhee the Warpzhtone? Right thizh way." The storekeeper floated past another curtain and led Fox into another room, one that held all sorts of odd-looking items. The one he was looking for, though, was on a stand near the curtain. Noticing the object of the vulpine's interest, Shabunga floated over next to the pedestal and declared, "Thizh will be ten zhcarabs."

'That cleans me out right there,' Fox thought to himself, but he knew he needed the rock candy immediately, and additional funds were as close as the nearest rock. He pulled both bugs out of his pockets (fortunately they had already expired, so they didn't resists this time) and handed them over to the floating lizard. Shabunga's eyes lit up with an avaricious gleam as he accepted the median-denomination bugs and stashed them somewhere on the overlarge vest he wore. Fox tucked the rock candy in his backpack and proceeded to take a look around the rest of the store.

One section of the store was devoted entirely to maps. They seemed less sophisticated than the computer projections he was used to, but a closer look revealed that they had been drawn with careful attention to detail. He wondered idly what Peppy would make of them; the old hare might like a couple as souvenirs for his current cartography hobby. However, he couldn't get any of them without any currency, and he sincerely doubted shoplifting would elevate his position with the storekeeper any.

Another section stocked more mundane supplies, like foodstuffs, and (Fox noted) bomb spores. He saw no need to buy any when there was a renewable supply readily available just outside, though. He was about to turn and leave when a familiar blue glow caught his eye: there was a large pile of fuel cells sitting on one of the shelves! Fox rushed to claim his missing supplies, but Shabunga intercepted him. The storekeeper angrily swatted Fox's hand away from the pile and shouted, "Get away from those! You don't have enough zhcarabs!"

"But those are _mine_!" Fox objected heatedly. "I brought them down to the planet with me; who else do you know of who would possibly need those?"

"I didn't zhee any zhigns of ownership on them," Shabunga said with arms crossed over his chest. "I found them zhitting alone, in an unmarked container, in the middle of the Hollow. If you want them, you can pay for them just like you would for anything else. Don't try to take any more of my merchandise unless you have zhcarabs to trade for them!"

Fox opened his mouth to protest but knew the argument was already lost. The drop pods had no identity markings, being almost universally available, and he'd never bothered to have the Star Fox logo painted on them, since it was assumed that he'd be nearby to claim their contents as soon as they were down. What galled him the most was the principle of having to pay for something that he already owned; it ran squarely counter to his mercenary nature. Dejectedly, he made his way out of the store and back into daylight.

Fox clicked his comm line open as soon as he was outside. "Oh, Slippy?" he said in a deceptively calm voice.

"Yeah, Fox?"

"_The freakin' Storekeeper has all my fuel cells!_" Fox bellowed into the comm speaker. Up on the bridge, Slippy jerked back from the speaker at the outburst, then rubbed his tympanum to make sure it still worked.

"Sorry to hear that, Fox," the toad replied. "But we do have some good news for you, though."

"Slippy, if you say anything about insurance..."

"No, actually, I was going to say that the translator module for your PDA is ready. You may want to test it out, to make sure that it works like you need it to before you go to Ice Mountain."

"Oh, that is good news. Thanks Slip."

"Wait, there's more," Slippy said. "I worked up a fuel cell detector for your PDA also. I started working on it when you told me that the first pod broke up during reentry, but it looks like it might be even more useful now. If those scattered fuel cells landed anywhere near you, the detector will pick them up and point you in the right direction."

"That's really great, Slippy; although I think we'll need to buy some fuel cells anyway in the process. There's no telling how many I'd be able to find on my own, let alone carry." Fox checked the PDA to make sure that the two modules were downloading correctly, then closed the comm line and trotted back towards the WarpStone. Once back in the garden he headed straight for the rock-man and hauled the candy out of his backpack. "Hey, big guy," he called up to the WarpStone, "was this what you wanted?"

"Ah, a lovely sweetie!" was the response. The Warpstone took the piece of candy carefully from Fox's hands. Although Fox had to use both arms to hold the candy up, the Warpstone was able to hold it between two fingers. He studied it with a careful eye, then popped it into his mouth. His eyes widened in delight; "Oh, that's the best kind!" he exclaimed. "Thank yah so much, laddie. Now, what do yah need me to do for you?"

"Well, what do you do?" Fox asked uncertainly.

"Ha, yah mean yah can't tell?" the Warpstone laughed. "Mah name says it all; I can warp yah to different places on the planet!"

"Anywhere at all?" Fox asked incredulously.

"Nah, not _anywhere_ at all," the Warpstone replied. "Only to places where there's a warp pad to land on. But I hear yah need to go to Ice Mountain, and it just so happens that I can send yah straight there. Yah got everything yah think yer gonna need?"

"I'm ready," Fox declared.

The WarpStone lowered on hand down to the level of the vulpine pilot. "Weel, come on then, laddie, hop on."

Fox stepped onto the outstretched hand, although not without reservations. The WarpStone lifted his hand back up to eye level, and a look of concentration crossed his face. Fox felt a strange tingle course through his body, then motes of light began to dance around him. Suddenly the light and tingling sensation intensified, and he disappeared from the WarpStone's palm. He was on his way to Ice Mountain.

* * *

_Meanwhile, on a stretch of beach near Cape Claw_,

Kite circled the beach, looking for a place to land. Krystal pointed to a location a bit further inland and said, "There. Land there." Kite followed the instructions and banked towards the indicated location. As he came in to land, he backpedaled to reduce his forward velocity and settled to the ground. Krystal slid off his back and dropped to the ground, sinking up to her ankles in the dry, loose sand.

Several yards away rested a shuttle. It was the craft that had carried her away from her doomed world, and that had been her home for five years now as she had wandered through space, seeking answers to the questions that had been all she was left with now.

Krystal strode up to the entry hatch and tapped the combination that would open the shuttle up for access. Over her shoulder she could see Kite stretching his wings and legs, glad for a chance to rest after nearly a whole day of nonstop flying. Her own legs and arms felt stiff, both from staying on Kite's back for so long and from her brief tangle with the strange being that had accosted her in the Krazoa Palace. It certainly felt good to her to be able to stretch her legs a little.

The hatch slid open with a quiet hiss of pressurized air, and she stepped inside. The interior was best described as utilitarian; this type of shuttle was a common craft on her homeworld, one that she had been shoved into and sent off in barely minutes before the whole planet had come apart at the seams. There hadn't been any time to save anything from Cerinia, no artwork, artifacts, or even family keepsakes. Krystal moved to the aft section, searching for a weapon. After her encounters with General Scales and her mysterious pursuer, she wanted to be armed for any future confrontations.

A small locker held a staff similar in design to her own, if different in its appearance. Whereas hers was golden with blue filigree all along the shaft, this one was silver, with red filigree and a red stone set in the tip, as opposed to the white one in her own staff. It was a bit shorter and noticeably heavier than hers, which meant she would need to practice with it a little to get a feel for its heft and reach, but it was much better than going about unarmed.

She exited the craft to see Kite swooping and diving into the surf. She thought the Cloudrunner was just frolicking until she saw him emerge with a gleaming fish in his beak. That sparked a reminding growl from her own stomach, that she hadn't eaten since she'd set out that morning from Cloudrunner Fortress. She wondered if the Cloudrunner would share any of his catch, but then she noticed a cluster of fruits hanging from a tree near where she stood. She recognized them as Dumbledang pods, a sweet, pulpy fruit that grew in abundance all over the planet.

Krystal started readying herself to climb the tree, similar to how she gathered fruits as a kit back on Cerinia, but then remembered her new staff. She pulled it out, took a few practice swings to get a feel for its weight, then wound up and slammed the trunk of the tree with all her might. The impact dislodged several of the pods, which fell with a thump into the sand. Krystal dusted them off, and was pleased to note that they were undamaged. She counted them; there were four total, which meant she could share them equally with her friend. Walking to the edge of the surf, she called out, "Hey Kite! Want any of these?"

The Cloudrunner saw what she was referring to and squawked in delight. He dove and came up with three glittering fish in his beak, then banked towards the shore. Kite carefully dropped the fish on a nearby rock so that they wouldn't get too much sand on them, then said, "For you, in exchange." Krystal split one of the pods and set the halves on the rock, then got up to retrieve some cooking utensils from the shuttle. When she came back, she saw that Kite had already scraped the pulp out of the fruit, leaving only a much-roughened rind. She split the other one for him, then began to use driftwood and palm fronds to build a cooking fire.

"Thanks so much for the Dumbledang pods, Krystal," Kite said to her. "I can usually open them up by dropping them on a rock, but that wastes a lot of the fruit."

"You're quite welcome," the vixen replied. "Besides it's the least I could do in exchange for the fish. Thank you so much for those, by the way." She started the fire and began cleaning and preparing the fish, with an ease born of years of practice.

Kite eyed the fire lay uncertainly. "Um, what are you doing there?"

"I'm going to cook these first, before I eat them," she replied. "Raw fish doesn't sit too well in my stomach, I'm afraid."

While Krystal waited for her supper to cook, she ate one of her Dumbledang pods as an appetizer. In between bites, she asked, "What do we do next? Do you know of any place we should go?"

"I'm not really sure," the Cloudrunner replied. "I'm not sure what to do now that Cloudrunner Fortress is floating somewhere in the sky. There's nothing I know of that could cause that to happen."

"So our next course of action would be to find out what caused that," she mused. "We're searching for answers again; it's the story of my life recently." She checked the fish and, finding that they were done, picked the first one off its skewer and began eating it, careful not to swallow any bones.

"I think we should make for Walled City," Kite said. "That's where the Earthwalkers make their home. I know our tribes disagree on a lot of things, but they're in the same plight we are, and the King and Queen know a great deal about our world's history and secrets. They are the ones most likely to know what the cause behind this is."

"What if Walled City is one of the places in orbit?"

Kite pondered that question for a little bit. Finally, he said, "Well, the best place to go, if that's the case, would be Thorntail Hollow. It's right next to Walled City, and it's accessible by foot, no walls to keep intruders away. The Thorntails are under the Earthwalkers' protection, since they are peaceful and not very good at defending themselves. If something has happened to the Walled City, and the Earthwalkers had to leave, that's most likely where they would gather."

"So, then, tomorrow we head for Walled City first?"

"_Tomorrow_, yes," Kite affirmed. "_Tonight_, we get some rest."

Krystal chuckled at his emphasis, but she felt the same way. Fortunately, nights were almost as warm as days, on this world, so there was no need for heavy covers or insulating clothing. She could spend the night in her bunk on her shuttle, but after being cooped up for days on end during interstellar flights, she felt like she would catch cabin fever if she spent another night in there. Something to cushion the ground outside would be all she'd actually need, so she retrieved the mattress from her bunk and arranged it under the trees near the ship. Laying back on it, she noticed that Kite had taken to roost on a low-hanging branch just above and to the side of her position. Krystal closed her eyes, and, setting aside her worries about what the next day held, was soon fast asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chp. 7**

Krystal was typically a sound sleeper; as busy as her life was now, she was usually exhausted when she went to sleep. Now, however, she stirred fitfully under the sheet she had pulled over herself. An observer might have guessed that she was having a nightmare, and although there was certainly plenty of material in her memory for bad dreams, that was not the case this time. Her unease was prompted by a sense of danger, which grew stronger and more insistent as time passed. Eventually, it grew too strong to be ignored, and she awakened in a cold sweat-

To find herself surrounded by Sharpclaws.

A surge of adrenaline burned away her fatigue in a heartbeat. With a wild yell, she kicked out with both feet and caught a surprised Sharpclaw across the shins, dumping him back on his tail. Krystal grabbed her staff and sprang to her feet, swinging it by one end to give her more reach. Three more Sharpclaws fell to her strikes, but many more appeared to take the places of their fallen comrades. Krystal sprinted across the beach, putting some distance between herself and her attackers, while at the same time wondering why in the cosmos so many Sharpclaws were here at an otherwise deserted section of beach.

"_Krystal, help!_"

Kite's panicked call snapped her attention around to the tree where he had been roosting. Several Sharpclaws had been able to catch him while he was sleeping, throwing a weighted net around him that pinned him to the ground and kept him from taking flight. He struggled inside the net, but it was a futile battle. He was surrounded by several Sharpclaw soldiers, both the rank-and-file, mace-wielding grunts and some much larger ones that hefted large double-bit axes instead. If she had stopped to think about the situation, taking on such a large group would have seemed foolish, perhaps even suicidal, but a friend of hers was in danger, and her heart was in command of the situation at the moment. She charged them at full speed, bellowing an ancient Cerinian battle-cry as she ran.

Either the Sharpclaws that were guarding Kite weren't paying attention or they were caught off-guard by their foe's inexplicable behavior, but whatever the reason, Krystal was almost on top of them before they began to react. The first two grunts she thrashed mercilessly with her staff, smashing it across their skulls and sending them unconscious to the sandy ground. The rest had time to prepare for her onslaught, forming a wall of bodies between her and the captured Cloudrunner. Krystal though briefly about using the staff to pole-vault over their heads, but swiftly rejected that idea. The loose sand on this section of the shore would likely send her falling flat on her face. She readied herself for close combat against overwhelming numbers.

Most of the smaller Sharpclaws and two of the bigger ones squared off to face this foolish mammal that dared challenge them. The other two large ones, plus three of the smaller ones, focused on dragging the net that held Kite captive across the beach, towards her shuttle. Krystal's eyes widened as she realized their intent; they were going to lug Kite aboard and _steal_ her shuttle, leaving the rest of their comrades behind to deal with her in the meantime. She attacked the wall of bodies in front of her in a flurry of swings and kicks.

Although she was vastly outnumbered, Krystal quickly realized she had two major advantages. First, although the Sharpclaws were larger and stronger, she was more agile and much faster, and much more skilled with the weapon she wielded. Her second advantage was that she could attack with abandon, while the Sharpclaws had to be more careful with their swings, lest they hit an ally instead of their foe. She pressed those advantages for all she was worth, dancing in and out of range, landing several solid hits on an opponent before ducking back out of reach. The Sharpclaws were trying their hardest to land a hit, since even one solid strike on the scantily-clad vixen would incapacitate her, but trying to do so was like trying to catch smoke with their bare hands.

As devastating as her tactics were, however, the Sharpclaws succeeded in keeping her from reaching her shuttle, by forcing her to go through their ranks before she could attack the group that held Kite captive. Desperate, Krystal redoubled her assault, but by the time she had downed enough of the enemy to give herself a clear shot to the shuttle, it was already taking off, with its new crew and their captive aboard. The shuttle had no security systems, and its controls were simple enough that even dim-bulbs like the Sharpclaws could figure out how to work them. Krystal watched in frustration as it lifted away, taking her only ally away with it.

For a long moment Krystal just stood there, staff in one hand and looking at the sky, at a loss for what to do. Bereft of the Cloudrunner's assistance, the only mode of transportation left to her was walking, unless she could find another dinosaur willing to help her out. In addition, all the supplies and equipment that she'd had on the shuttle was now gone. Although she could probably forage to find enough food, she would have felt better if she'd retained the material that she'd left on the ship. She tried to settle her nerves by meditating, but it only partially worked; she was just too upset by the losses to be able to completely focus her mind.

Eventually, she noticed that the sky was getting lighter; dawn was about to break. Realizing that she didn't have time to be wallowing in self-recrimination, Krystal picked up her staff and started walking west along the beach. She wasn't entirely sure, but she hoped she was moving in the general direction of the area Kite had called Thorntail Hollow. Since she had no form of air transportation, her best bet was to make for the location she would be able to reach on foot.

As the sun began to break over the horizon, Krystal saw what had to be the largest dinosaur she'd _ever_ seen, plodding deliberately along in a small bay. The water level was over her head, but on the dinosaur, it barely came up to its knees. She was more than a little nervous, but called up to the gargantuan dinosaur, "Hello?"

The dinosaur looked around; searching for the source of the voice it had heard. Krystal took a deep breath and called again; "Hey! Down here!" The dinosaur (she recalled that this particular breed was of the Hightop tribe) looked down in surprise at seeing the vixen standing on the shore, not more than two strides away from its position.

"Can I help you?" the Hightop inquired. He wasn't the brightest of dinosaurs, but he was gentle and well-meaning. Krystal took this as an encouraging sign and mustered the breath necessary to shout loud enough to be heard.

"Can you tell me how to get to Thorntail Hollow?"

The Hightop thought about her request for a moment. It wasn't that he was debating whether or not to answer her question; it was just that it took some effort for him to remember a location he hadn't been to in who-knew-how-long. Finally he answered, "Go up the pier and head up the path you'll see there. That leads past Lightfoot territory, but if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. After that, it's just a matter of following the trail until you reach Thorntail Hollow."

"Thank you!" Krystal shouted up to him.

"Be careful, young miss," the Hightop cautioned her. "With the Walled City ripped from the surface, the Earthwalkers that weren't trapped inside are likely hiding there, and the Sharpclaws may have pursued them as well. You may find yourself walking into the middle of a battle."

"That's a risk I'll just have to take," Krystal replied. "Again, thank you for the directions." She departed in the direction the Hightop had indicated, more determined than ever to find the answers to what was plaguing this planet. She wasn't sure just what she could do on her own, but she recalled the Earthwalker captain's words to her at Krazoa Palace; that the biggest obstacle to doing great things was believing that they were possible. With this advice in mind, she set out for Thorntail Hollow.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Ice Mountain_:

When Fox could see past the light that had blinded him, he found himself standing on a pad in the middle of a small cavern. He shivered in shock at the sudden change in temperature. In the blink of an eye, the air had gone from the quality of a sauna to that of a walk-in freezer. He saw his breath condense and crystallize in the air in front of him, and could feel the heat escaping his body everywhere that wasn't covered. His vest and BDU pants helped hold heat in where they covered, and for that he was profoundly grateful. He knew he wouldn't get any warmer by simply standing there, so he stepped off the pad and started for the edge of the cave.

Shortly before he stepped out of the cavern, he heard a low hum echoing through the air. He quickly pulled his head back to avoid being detected by the ship, or the two Sharpclaws patrolling the snowscape underneath it. Watching from a low outcropping of stone, he saw the shuttle come to a hover about ten feet above the ground. A small hatch in the belly irised open and a glowing sphere of energy descended from the ship. As it came close to the ground it dissipated, allowing Fox to see what had been inside: a young Earthwalker, quite possibly the Prince he was looking for. Its cargo delivered, the ship lifted off again and soared out of sight.

Fox was more interested in the scene on the ground, however. The two Sharpclaws began poking and prodding at the young Earthwalker, urging him towards a doorway set into the cliff nearby. He lifted his feet only reluctantly, until one of the Sharpclaws belted him across the flank with the mace it carried. The Earthwalker yelped and scampered towards the entrance, his two minders close behind. Fox felt a ball of hot fury ignite in his chest at the sight, but knew that simply rushing out into view would get him nailed as well. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, he waited until the trio had passed through the doorway and it had closed behind them before he stepped out from cover.

The area wasn't actually that large. Fox could see the entirety of it without moving from the mouth of the cave. There was a small enclosure that was blocked off by a large stack of boxes, and another that was accessible on foot. Fox headed towards the latter, but was stopped by a Sharpclaw grunt standing squarely in his path. This one looked a bit different from the ones he'd encountered in the Hollow, with blue scales instead of ocher, and black stripes on its back instead of brown. Otherwise, he seemed about as tough as his cousins, and Fox moved in for the kill.

The Sharpclaw tried to head butt him, but Fox sidestepped and brought the knob at the top of the staff down on its head. The impact staggered the grunt but didn't knock him out, so Fox followed up with a one-two-three series of strikes to put him down for the count. With the area secured, he collapsed the staff and investigated the area. Of most immediate interest to him was a large barrel sitting on a slightly raised pedestal, with a red LED diode on the top. Fox recognized the diode as belonging to a security device; if the barrel was removed from its resting place, a timer would count down a predetermined amount of time before the barrel would explode. This was meant to discourage theft of the fuel inside the barrel, but Fox had a different purpose in mind for it.

He scooped up the barrel and ran for the stack of boxes. The LED began flashing, its pulse a warning of dire consequences soon to come. Fox reached the stack with only seconds to spare, and heaved the barrel at it. The results were all he could have hoped for; it exploded in a brilliant flash and blasted all the boxes into splinters. The explosion startled the two Sharpclaws waiting inside the enclosure, and Fox was on top of them before they had a chance to recover. The first he greeted with an overhand strike, followed by a vicious back-kick that dropped it like a sack of potatoes. The second blocked his initial swing, but made the mistake of over-committing when it tried to counterattack. Fox parried the blow and brought the knob on the top up into the dinosaur's jaw. He collapsed to join his comrade, and Fox took the opportunity to survey the area.

The only thing of note was a switch set into the side of the cliff. Fox wondered how he would be able to use it, since the lever seemed to have been broken off, but then he had an idea. He slid the flat end of the staff into the hole where the lever would have gone, then wiggled it around until he felt it stick in place and put all his weight on the far end. With a 'click' it activated, causing a stone panel on the cliff wall above the door to slide back. He strode out in front of the door, and noted that the panel had hidden another fire blaster switch, of the sort he was becoming very familiar with. Fox took careful aim and let fly with a sizzling energy bolt. The panel turned green, and the door lifted obligingly out of the way.

Fox rushed inside to see the two Sharpclaws still tormenting their captive. The Earthwalker must have noticed his arrival, since he shouted, "Help me!" as Fox came into view. Fox had a special dislike for those who bullied helpless victims, so he obliged the Earthwalker.

"Hey, scale-faces," he shouted at the guards, "why don't you pick on someone closer to your own size?!"

Both guards turned to face this interloper, but Fox had the staff out in a guard position to keep them from trying to attack him. One of them tilted his head and said, "What? Who you?"

"I'm Fox McCloud," he replied. "I'm here to take the Prince back home...Hey, wait!" This last exclamation was directed at the Earthwalker, who had started edging out of the enclosure once the guards were no longer watching him. Fox turned to follow the Earthwalker, but realized too late he had let his guard down. One of the Sharpclaws shoulder-checked him into the wall, then the both of them took off after the escaping Earthwalker on, of all things, jet bikes. Fox scrambled to his feet and looked around. There were several more jet bikes racked against the far wall; vaulting onto one, he tore off in hot pursuit of the Sharpclaws.

The trail led down through a small cavern at first. Fox trimmed his speed, making sure he was lined up correctly before he sped through the cave, then opened the throttle up to full. The bike roared ahead, quickly catching up to the Sharpclaws. He veered around the first one, then cut back across its path, spraying a cloud of snow and dirt in its face. The Sharpclaw slowed down to wipe the grit from its face, giving Fox the opportunity to close the distance on the leader. This one dropped something behind him to discourage close pursuit, but Fox reacted with a starfighter pilot's reflexes and side-slipped out of the way. The Sharpclaw turned to go around a hill, and Fox gunned the engine on his bike and sped over the hill, putting him in the lead.

Ahead was a small alpine forest, so Fox reduced the throttle to give himself a little more reaction time, and began weaving through the trees. At these speeds, with no helmet on, a collision would surely be the death of him, yet he felt strangely calm, like there was no way he could die here. He rounded a large spur of rock and plowed straight through a snow drift. He spat gritty snow from his mouth and hurriedly wiped his eyes to clear them. Just ahead of him, a pair of rock pillars had fallen together, forming an 'X' shape. Fox got his vision clear just in time to see that the path ahead of him dropped off abruptly. There was no time to slow down or stop; he rocketed straight over the edge.

Fox lost his grip on the handlebars as the bike fell out from underneath him. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he plummeted towards a pool of water. Fox closed his eyes and braced himself for the shock of landing in freezing-temperature waters, but when his belly-flop ended, he was immersed in a pool that was only just below scalding. After he caught his breath, he crawled out of the pool, to see the Earthwalker looking at him and grinning.

"Hey, you must be Tricky," Fox said. Tricky looked him over and said something, but to Fox's dismay the translator wasn't working! Fox hastily tried to reset the device, and Tricky repeated what he had said earlier. "I can't understand you!" Fox exclaimed in frustration. He fiddled with the PDA a little more and got the translator reset just in time to catch Tricky's snide remark:

"Good thing you landed in a hot spring or you'd be frozen by now!"

"Why you little..." Fox growled menacingly.

Tricky backed away a little and lowered his head in a defensive position. "Hey, I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he warned. "My dad's the King Earthwalker and he'd bash you up good!"

As annoyed as Fox was with his new ward, the mention of the king brought his mission back to the front of his mind. He knelt beside the young prince and said "I don't think he'll be doing any bashing right now: he's been captured. That's why I was sent to find you."

"My dad? _Captured_?" Tricky asked incredulously.

"That's right," Fox said. "Your mother was the one who sent me here to find you."

"Is...Is she okay?" For all his irreverent attitude, Tricky cared deeply about both of his parents. Fox thought about what all to tell him; the Queen was safe for the moment, but she had suffered during her capture and was not in the best condition last he'd seen. Fox decided a little tactful skirting of the truth was in order.

"She'll be just fine," he reassured the anxious young dinosaur. "But we need to get you back home, quickly."

"Okay!" Tricky exclaimed. "I know the way back from here!" With that, he took off down the path. Fox sighed in resignation; it looked like he would have his hands full keeping track of this one. He started down the path, following Tricky at a more sedate pace.


	8. Chapter 8

Fox followed Tricky down the path, acutely aware of his soaking-wet clothes. The residual heat from the hot spring was rapidly fading, and if he didn't get dry quickly he'd catch hypothermia real quickly. A lambent orange glow ahead caught his attention; he forged ahead, passing Tricky in the process, and ran up to the edge of the path. It dead-ended next to a lava pit, with no visible way to get across. The trail looped around to the side, but it was the lava pit Fox was more interested in at the moment. He peered over the side of the cliff, and saw a ledge halfway between his position and the lava, and a stretch of roughened rocks that offered handholds on the way down. He sighed with relief; the ledge offered a place where he could stand and dry off.

The Earthwalker's head appeared above him. "Hey, what'd you say your name was?" the inquisitive young dinosaur asked.

"I'm Fox," the aptly named vulpine replied.

"C'mon Fox, we need to get moving! My mom's hurt and I need to get back to help her!"

Fox sighed patiently. "Tricky, all the haste in the world won't do us any good if I freeze solid before we get there. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right back up. If you want to do something useful, look around and see if there's a way to get across this lava."

"Okay!" the dinosaur replied. "I'll look for a bridge while you dry off."

Fox stood on the ledge next to the lava pit for several minutes, while his clothes and fur dried out. If he hadn't been soaked to the skin, he would have been roasting within a minute; as it was, he was already panting from the heat being thrown off by the molten rock. Once he felt he was as dry as he could be, he climbed back up the cliff and looked around for Tricky. The young Earthwalker spotted him as soon as he came up, and bounded over to his position. "Sorry, Fox," the Earthwalker reported, "There doesn't seem to be any way across right now, but I did find something else." He led Fox over to a side trail that looped halfway around the lava pit before ending at a lowered gate. The gate wasn't the immediate object of Tricky's interest however; rather, he was staring quite intently at a pair of blue-tinted mushrooms sitting in a sheltered spot near the lava.

"Okay, I give up," Fox said. "What are they?"

"Food!" Tricky replied enthusiastically. "These blue GrubTubs are my favorite, but they're really hard for me to catch." Fox was about to scoff at the idea, until he remembered the large red mushrooms in Thorntail Hollow. With all the other things that he'd seen on this world, motile mushrooms weren't all that outlandish an idea anymore. He approached the first one and tried to pick it up, but it hopped out of his reach. He tried to do the same for the other one, with a similar result. An idea occurred to him; he pulled out the staff and moved up to the edge of the GrubTub's reaction zone, then rushed it and slammed the staff down on the mushroom's cap. He felt more than a little foolish doing so, but the results were satisfactory enough; the mushroom stopped hopping long enough for Tricky to scarf it down. Fox repeated the tactic with the second mushroom, and then turned his attention to the gate at the end of the trail.

There didn't seem to be any way to open it, but a call from Tricky directed his attention elsewhere. Fox turned to see him pawing at a patch of soil that wasn't covered in snow. "There's something buried here," he said, and began digging. The short, blunt claws on his front feet moved dirt with surprising speed, and soon he had exposed a pressure panel. Fox stepped on it and the gate lifted up out of the way. He moved to see what was behind, but no sooner had he stepped off the panel than the gate closed again. Fox pondered the problem for a moment then said, "Hey, Tricky! Could you sit on this thing for a bit?"

"Sure thing!" the young prince replied, and moved to put his weight on the panel. With the gate thus kept open, Fox jogged over to investigate. Sure enough, there was another switch, like the one at the top of Ice Mountain, which he could wedge the end of the staff into to operate. As soon as he did so, he heard the grinding of machinery behind the panel, and left the alcove to see a stone pillar rise out of the lava. The column was located halfway between this side and the far one, and made it possible for him to jump from the near ledge, to the pillar, to the far ledge and climb out again. Once on the other side, he suddenly realized that there was no way for Tricky to get across; but even as he turned back to look for a way to get the prince safely to the other side, he saw Tricky standing not even three feet away from him.

"How...how did you do _that_?" Fox asked incredulously.

"Sorry. Not tellin'," Tricky replied with a smirk.

Fox sighed and started down the path again. It was irritating to say the least, but on the other hand it did mean that he didn't have to lug the dinosaur anywhere there wasn't level ground to walk on. He drew the staff and kept it at the ready. His caution was justified when the pair rounded a corner and ran into a couple of Sharpclaws. Tricky started in fright and took off, and Fox had to thrash the patrol first before he could follow. Fox rushed down the trail to find Tricky skidding around on a frozen pond, being pursued by three more Sharpclaws eager to recapture the prince. Fox announced his approach with a flurry of energy blasts from the staff, which slew one soldier on the spot and wounded the other two, then closed in to complete the job.

After the Sharpclaws were neutralized, Fox rounded on his charge. "Tricky, are you crazy?!" he exclaimed. "Just leave the Sharpclaws to me, and don't run off like that! I'll do my best to protect you, but I can't do much if you're too far away."

Tricky looked abashed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Fox," he said in apology. Then he looked up at the vulpine and asked, "Hey...can you whistle?"

"Like this?" Fox blew a few notes through pursed lips.

"Yeah, exactly! If you need me to come right to where you are, just whistle and I'll be right there, okay?"

"I suppose that'll work," Fox said. He secured the staff and took a look around. A quick survey revealed a trio of GrubTub mushrooms on a small island in the middle of the frozen pond, and a stone block balanced on top of a geyser that flowed out of the ice. Fox stunned the GrubTubs with well-placed shots from the Fire Blaster, which allowed Tricky to consume the strange mushrooms without them escaping. The mental image that thought brought to mind was enough to make him laugh.

The only other thing of apparent note was a large creature that resembled an elephant with a thick coat of coarse, brown fur. "This must be a Snowhorn,' Fox thought to himself. He approached the hairy behemoth to ask him for directions or assistance, but the Snowhorn simply replied, "I'm too hungry to talk to strangers!"

"All right, big fella," Fox said, "what do you want to eat?"

"Hmm..." The Snowhorn thought for a moment, then said, "Alpine roots are my favorite, but I can't dig them out of the frozen ground. If you could bring me one or two, I'd be much obliged to you."

"I'll see what I can find," Fox said as he moved off. "Don't go anywhere!" Fox scouted the area and swiftly located two likely spots where Alpine roots were buried; the small cluster of leaves protruding from a patch of soil was a pretty clear giveaway. He whistled for Tricky and was more than a little surprised at the alacrity with which the young dinosaur responded. With Tricky's help, both plants were swiftly excavated. 'Alpine Roots' turned out to be tuber-like plants with thickened root sections that were nearly the size of the vulpine's head. Fox hefted both plants by the stems as he made his way back to the hungry Snowhorn. Holding one out at arm's length, he lifted it up and said, "Are these what you had in mind?"

The Snowhorn swiped the first root with his trunk and tossed it into his mouth. He chewed on it for a couple of seconds before swallowing, then gave out a thunderous belch, assaulting the vulpine's nose with the odor of half-digested vegetation. Fox covered his nose and shook his head in disgust, and the Snowhorn looked a little apologetic. Fox held out the second Alpine Root for the Snowhorn to take then backed away a couple of steps afterwards. The Snowhorn mulled over the root a little longer than the last one, and swallowed a bit more carefully.

"Ah, that's much better! I tell you what young 'un, I know of something that'll be useful to you." The elephantine creature walked over to a small alcove set high into a rock spire, and pulled out what appeared to be a burlap sack. "Here ya are my boy, this is a Scarab Bag. I'd wager there are a few things in old Shabunga's store that you'd like to bet your hands on, but can't afford, no?"

"Thanks lots," Fox replied. "Now I don't have to stuff those things in my pockets anymore."

The Snowhorn chuckled and meandered over to the geyser, then reared up and slammed his weight down on the ground next to it. The water slowed to a trickle out of the hole and brought the stone block down within reach. Fox saw a ledge on the far side of the pond that was low enough that he could reach it by jumping from the block, but decided to explore the area a little more before he left.

On a whim, he activated the fuel-cell detector Slippy had put on his PDA, and was both surprised and grateful to see two signals coming from a small ledge on the opposite side of the pond. After a quick survey, he pushed the block over to the ledge and used it to help him ascend to the cells. He carefully tucked both prizes into his backpack then surveyed the area again. Noting the presence of several medium-sized boulders, he decided to take a peak under them to see if there were any Scarabs to fill his new "wallet" with. His thoroughness was eventually rewarded by one gold, three orange, and seven green beetles. With the squirming mass secured in the bag, Fox shoved the block back over to the far ledge, scaled the cliff, and surveyed the area.

There seemed to be nothing serious between him and the way back to Thorntail Hollow. A winding path sloped down to a level snowfield, and there were no Sharpclaws or any other apparent threat between him and the exit. He took a few steps forward and was only a little surprised to see Tricky bounding ahead. "Hey, Tricky, don't wander too far off!" he called after the Earthwalker, and the dinosaur halted pace and waited for Fox to catch up with him. Fox jogged down the path and to the lower area, and saw something he hadn't before; an enormous Sharpclaw standing guard at the exit. He halted in shock, unsure of what tactic to use to bring down such a massive enemy.

One of the passing Snowhorns must have noticed Fox's trepidation. "Don't worry about the guard," it said. "They look fierce, but they're mostly here for money. If you give them some Scarabs, they'll let you pass."

"Just how much of a toll do they want?" Fox asked the Snowhorn.

"Twenty-five Scarabs is what he usually asks," it answered. "None of us have been able to afford it, but on the other hand there's really no need for us to travel beyond our own borders-and we can't really fit through that entrance anyway."

"Thanks for the tip," Fox said to the Snowhorn as it wandered away. Twenty-five was a hefty chunk out of his current savings, but there appeared to be a few more boulders under which to look. His investigations eventually yielded another orange and five more green beetles. This amount brought his total to forty-two Scarabs' worth of money.

He approached the guard at the cavern entrance, who immediately blocked the way with his bulk and said, "You give me twenty-five Scarabs to pass."

Fox handed over the requisite toll and the Sharpclaw shuffled out of the way. "You pass," he said, "but don't tell the Boss."

"Oh, don't worry," Fox said, "I have as much interest in keeping this arrangement secret as you do." He and Tricky moved past the guard and into the network of caverns that connected Snowhorn Wastes with Thorntail Hollow. From here, it was just a straight shot back to the area that, Fox suspected, was going to become the base of his operations here on Sauria.

* * *

Krystal ran down the path, finding her way through a series of tunnels and caves to the place called Thorntail Hollow. She emerged from the last cave to find herself in a relatively peaceful locale; the Sharpclaws didn't seem to have much of a presence here, and the native dinosaurs appeared to be at ease. One aspect of the scene was jarringly out of place, however; an angular, knife-winged aircraft sat in a clearing near where she had emerged from. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before; it was smaller than the shuttle she had called home for the last several years, so she suspected it was a starfighter of some sort. What it was doing here, however, was beyond her ability to guess.

She moved in towards the center of the area, but stopped as a pulse from her staff drew her attention to a point in the northeastern corner. She followed the impulse to a small cave set into the northern wall of the cliff, and found a little hole she could drop into. A short hallway led into a room with a pedestal set in its center. Eyes wide with surprise at finding such a thing here, she set the staff into the slot in the top of the pedestal, and then backed away to watch as a new power was bestowed upon the device. After the light show had finished, she picked the staff up again and noticed that one of the glyphs on the shaft, near the middle, was a slightly brighter red than before. She pressed her thumb to it and was rewarded by a blast of energy that raced from the blunt tip and splashed against the far wall of the chamber.

'The Fire Blaster has been unsealed!' she thought to herself. 'But how is it that there are devices that can unseal the powers of Cerinian Battle Staves on _this_ world?' She wondered if there were some connection between her homeworld and this alien planet, but she had very little data to go on, and no time to spare to search for any more. She exited the grotto and continued searching the area.

A temple-like structure set into the cliff immediately south of her position seemed like a good place to check out. She was halfway over there when her telepathic senses detected two presences heading in her direction. One was a young dinosaur, and seemed to brim with energy and enthusiasm, but the other was calmer, more disciplined and focused - and belonged to another fox, like herself! For a wild moment, she wondered if it were another Cerinian survivor like herself, but quickly decided otherwise. He had none of the sense of a telepath, and his self-identification was of a native of Corneria, which seemed to be the most settled planet in this solar system.

She heard a plaintive dinosaur groan from the direction of the temple, and heard the other dinosaur shout, "That's my ma!" He came galloping around the wall and raced by her without any indication that he saw her there. She heard the other individual shout, "Hey Tricky, wait up!" and she turned back towards the source of the voice. She sensed him coming closer at a rapid pace, realized too late what was about to happen, and was trying to change direction when the other fox ran full tilt around the corner and collided head-on with her. The two of them went down in a tangle of limbs.

Despite the collision, Krystal still possessed both the clarity of mind and agility of body to twist herself around in midair, so that she was the one on top when the two of them hit the ground. She landed with arms and legs splayed out to catch her weight, so that she didn't land too hard on the other party; after all, _he_ had no way of knowing that someone was just around the corner. She sprang back to her feet as soon as she landed, dusted herself off, and looked back to the other party-to see him still sitting on the ground, staring at her with an odd expression on his face.

* * *

Fox's mouth gaped open in utter astonishment. The vixen that stood before him was _gorgeous_, beautiful beyond words! The blue fur and abbreviated clothing lent her an exotic air, which the jewelry and the bands on her tail only heightened. As he sat there, staring up at her, he tried to shake his head to clear it, but it seemed as though a fog filled his head. He blinked twice to try and snap out of it, but to no avail.

The vixen offered him a hand to help him back to his feet. Once he was standing, though, she didn't release him completely, but instead slid her hand up his arm and over to his cheek. Standing this close, looking into her sea-green eyes, he was only partially aware of his own hands coming to rest on her waist. Her other hand came to rest on his shoulder, and their faces moved closer, until they almost touched. His hands moved to her lower back, and his muzzle crossed the final few inches to touch against hers. She didn't pull away at the contact, but leaned in closer, pressing her mouth firmly against his-

Fox was jarred out of his adolescent fantasy by her voice: "Sir? Sir, are you alright?" He came to, to find that he was still sitting on the ground, with the vixen kneeling in front of him, shaking his head slightly to try and get a response from him. His first words were a little incoherent, but he gradually recovered the clarity of mind to formulate a cogent response.

"'M 'kay," he mumbled. It was supposed to be, 'I'm okay,' but for some reason his brain and his mouth were not in clear contact with each other. As he tried to clear his brain, he couldn't help but notice the bemused expression with which she regarded him.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked him. "Are you hurt?"

Fox put one hand behind his head, ostensibly to check for bruises or concussion, but in reality it was something he did when he was mortally embarrassed-like he was now. He'd sunk into a low-brow adolescent daydream, and had probably had a very goofy expression on his face on top of that, so that she was worried he'd suffered a concussion from their collision. It was a good thing she couldn't tell what had been going through his mind, or she'd be furious; or at the very least, would think he was a complete jerk.

"I'm good," he said at last. "Just...a little disoriented, that's all."

"I'm glad you're well," she said to him. "What were you in such a hurry for?"

Fox was about to reply when Tricky came racing back around the corner shouting, "Fox, you need to come, quickly! My mom's not moving, and her breathing is funny!"

A sense of alarm pierced through his embarrassment. "All right Tricky, I'm on my way!" He turned to the mysterious blue vixen he'd just run into. "The Queen Earthwalker's hurt, and I need to find a way to help her."

"Let me come with you," she said. "Maybe I can do something."

He wondered what exactly she could do, but decided it was a bad idea to turn down help that was freely offered; especially when she looked this good. "Thanks, um...what's your name?"

"I'm Krystal," she said, smiling at him in the process, which sent his heart skipping. "And you are...Fox, correct?"

"Yes, Fox McCloud," he replied.

"Well then, Fox McCloud, let's see if there's anything we can do to help the Queen."

"A good idea," he said. "And...Could you just call me Fox?"

"Certainly, Fox." Krystal started jogging in the direction of the Queen Earthwalker, and Fox moved to catch up. He didn't iobject/i to her presence here, but it was one more unexpected twist on a mission where nothing was going the way he expected it to. He would try to keep his mind on the job, but that task had suddenly become a lot more difficult. In the meantime, however, he needed to find a way to help the Queen Earthwalker; maybe she could shed some light on the situation.

* * *

_Author's Notes: This chapter was interesting to write. I'm also posting this story on deviantArt dot com, and the part where Fox's imagination runs away with him was put in at the request of one of my watchers there. I intend to amp the romance between Fox and Krystal up as the story progresses; hopefully not enough to require a maturity warning, but enough to show that they are falling in love as time passes. This story is not meant to tie into the canonical universe any; nor, as of right now, at least, any other story I write. I also plan on describing a plausible tie-in between Andross and Cerinia's destruction, through character recounting and a few communiques from General Pepper. I do maintain that Andross had a hand in Cerinia's destruction, because things worked out entirely too much to his benefit for it to be completely coincidental. _

_For those who are also reading "Sojourn's End", I intend to alternate between the two stories, and the pace should pick up a bit for both once spring semester ends. _


	9. Chapter 9

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chp. 9

Fox ran towards the temple where the Queen Earthwalker lay, with Krystal following closely behind. The urgency in Tricky's voice spurred him on; it sounded as though the Queen's health had deteriorated in the time since he'd left for Ice Mountain. The two of them rounded the corner at the entrance of the Temple, and Fox skidded to a halt in shock. Krystal must have had some amazing reflexes, because she came to a stop just before she would have plowed into Fox's back at full speed. Fox took two steps forward and knelt by the still figure of the Queen. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored, each breath coming in slow gasps.

"What's wrong?" Krystal asked from behind him.

Fox wasn't quite sure, but Tricky answered her; "Mom and I fled Walled City on the orders of my father. Scales had attacked the city, and he had brought the Redeyes with him; dad didn't want to take the chance that either of us would be caught by those beasts. The Sharpclaws captured me while we were fleeing, but I guess mom managed to make it all the way here, when they caught up with her."

Krystal laid a hand softly on the Queens's snout. After a moment, she said, "She was hurt when the Sharpclaws took her captive here; that and the strain of her journey here means she's past the point of exhaustion. Her health is failing because she's been pushed past her limits."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Fox asked.

"We need to find some white GrubTubs," Tricky replied. "My mom always gave them to me when I didn't feel well."

"Do you know where we could find them?"

"The old well," Tricky said. "They're more delicate than the blue ones, they can't stand sunlight. The well is probably the only place you could find some here."

"Let's go, then," Krystal interjected.

Tricky hesitated, looking down at the ground before looking back up at Fox. "Um, Fox, you don't mind if I stay here for now, do you? I mean, I want to help my mom, but I'm not sure how much use I'd be down in the well, and I want to stay with her, to keep an eye on her."

"Of course Tricky, I understand completely." Having lost both parents himself, Fox could understand the young prince's desire to not leave his mother alone in such a time. "Wait for us here, and give a shout if you need anything."

"Thanks Fox."

"I'll come with you," said the blue vixen. Her offer both pleased and worried Fox; pleased, because she was nice to look at and she seemed friendly enough; worried because he wasn't sure how capable she was, and because he might let himself be distracted at an inopportune moment.

She must have read some of his worry from his eyes, because she said, "If you're concerned about my well-being, I can take care of myself, and probably watch your back, as well."

"Erm…okay then, let's go," Fox replied.

The two vulpines exited the structure and were headed towards the well when Fox spotted a large, gargoyle-like creature hovering over the well entrance. He reached for the staff, intending to blast the thing out of the air, but was horrified to realize that it was missing. He must have dropped it when he and Krystal ran into each other! Panic shot through him as he said, "Krystal, have you seen my staff?!"

"Don't you mean, MY staff?" she replied. He turned to see her holding the item in question in her hands, almost cradling it, like a long-lost child.

Fox's eyes widened as realization hit home. "You… you're the one whose voice I heard when I first picked it up!"

She looked at him and said, "The message played for you? I didn't think… Well, never mind what I thought. The important thing is I've found it again."

"Um," Fox hesitated a bit then said, "Not to sound selfish or whiney, but what about me?"

"Hmm," she mused, looking him over with an appraising eye. "You're cute…" she said with an impish grin, "I think I'll keep you too!"

"Um...Er...I mean…" Fox stuttered for a moment, all thought processes disrupted by her flirtatious reply. It was a little while before he finally regained his voice. "What I meant was what do I do for a weapon now?"

"Here," she said, "use this one. She held out another staff similar in design to hers, except silver and red instead of gold and blue.

Fox took it and felt the heft of it in his hand. It was a little heavier and a bit shorter than the one Krystal had taken back, but, for some reason, it seemed a more natural fit to his hand. He looked up at her and asked, "If you had this one, why did you take the other one back?"

"Because this one is _mine_," she answered, "made specifically _for me_. These weapons always respond better to their chosen wielders. The one you hold now was made for someone who focused more on physical combat; although it can utilize all of the same powers that mine can, they will not be quite as strong. Oh, and if you're curious, I already unsealed the Fire Blaster on yours."

Fox's head practically spun at the volume of knowledge she had about the staffs. Although at first glance they seemed like archaic and impractical weapons, the Fire Blaster alone made them fair contenders against more modern weaponry. He had absolutely no experience with these things before now, despite having traveled extensively throughout the Lylat system. There was a distinct chance that they, and she, came from _beyond_ Lylat, but that question, and all the other ones it would raise, would have to wait for later. Right now, they had to focus on getting the white GrubTubs to give to the Queen Earthwalker.

He examined the well and realized that if the mushrooms in question grew only in dark places, he and Krystal would need to bring another light source with them. He turned and headed towards Shabunga's store, stopping along the way to lift several rocks and catch the Scarabs hiding underneath. Once he had filled the bag completely, he entered the store area, with Krystal following closely behind.

"Ah, welcome back, good zhir," Shabunga practically purred upon seeing the bulging Scarab bag hanging from Fox's belt. He gave Krystal a quick glance, but since she didn't even have pockets to hold Scarabs in, his attention quickly left her to focus on Fox again. "Izh there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm going to need a lamp," Fox said.

"Oh, and I have juzt the thing," cackled the strange floating dinosaur. He drifted over to a stand on the side of the wall, on which sat a glass container. "Thizh Firefly Lantern can hold dozens of firefliezh, perfect for lighting your way through even the darkest cave, and can be yours for only twenty Zhcarabs."

Fox opened his mouth to protest the exorbitant price, on what was essentially a glass jar, but Krystal beat him to it. "That's a rather high price," the vixen said. Fox turned to see her standing in front of the storekeeper with her arms crossed over her chest. "We'll give you fifteen, and not a Scarab more." She winked at Fox when Shabunga wasn't looking, and the vulpine pilot nodded and affirmed her statement; "Fifteen Scarabs tops."

Shabunga looked outraged at Krystal's intervention, but hesitated when Fox backed up her pronouncement. After a moment of wavering between holding out and giving in, he finally said, "Okay, I'll zhell it to you." Fox took the lantern off the stand and tucked it into his pack. Shabunga floated near him and said, "Would you like some firefliezh to put inside? Only ten Zhcarabs each."

"No thanks, I think I'll hold off on those for now," Fox replied. "I'll come back to see you if it turns out I need any."

He moved away from the pedestal, and Krystal tapped him on the shoulder. "See anything else you think we might need?" she whispered in his ear, so as not to attract the avaricious notice of the shopkeeper.

"No, not right now," he replied. He paused for a second then said, "You seem pretty comfortable working with a total stranger."

"You seem decent enough so far," Krystal replied. "I'm very good at reading people. So, if there's nothing else we need, let's head to the well now."

"Okay, we should be set now," Fox asserted. "And if not, we know where to go." The two vulpines exited the store, and made their way towards the well. On the southern side of the structure, there was a hole in the wall, big enough for the two of them to pass through if they crawled. Fox led the way, and found himself on a ledge next to a ladder that led further down into the well. He stepped onto the ladder as Krystal emerged from the hole, and slid down to the bottom. He brushed his hands off and was about to step away from the ladder when he looked around and froze. "Oh, crap," he said softly.

"Where?" Krystal's head and shoulders appeared above him at the top of the ladder with a look of concern on her face.

"Huh?" Fox was confused for a second by her question before realizing: if she wasn't from Lylat, she might not have a reference for idiomatic expressions yet. "No, it's just… you remember those big red mushrooms? They're _everywhere_ down here."

"Oh, so that was a general expression of dismay, and did not actually mean…"

"No, it's pretty clean down here, you can come down any time you like," Fox told her. Krystal slid down the ladder the same way Fox did; the handrails had been polished smooth by centuries of age, so there was no danger of either of them getting splinters from this maneuver. Once she was down, the two of them moved carefully through the underground cavern, careful not to venture too close to any of the ubiquitous giant red mushrooms. Fox remembered the debilitating effects of the spores they threw off, and had no desire to repeat the experience.

They came to a small underground stream, and Fox was about to move around it when Krystal grabbed his arm and said, "Wait. There's another Pedestal nearby. It will unseal another power in our staffs."

Fox was about to ask how she knew this, but then he saw her staff giving off a faint green aura. The aura brightened as they passed a small island near the end of the stream, and began to diminish again when they moved away. "Here,' Krystal said, "it must be here. But, how do we get to it?"

"I have an idea," Fox told her. He pulled a bomb spore out of his pack and set it on the island, then took several steps back and leveled his staff at the plant that emerged. Krystal looked back and forth between him and the newly sprouted plant, and then hastily took refuge behind him. Fox triggered the Fire Blaster on his staff, and the sizzling energy orb, while not quite as powerful as the one on Krystal's staff, was nonetheless strong enough to detonate the gas stored within the bulbous plant. The explosion revealed a hole in the ground, similar to the one where they had each gotten the Fire Blaster upgrades for their staffs. Krystal dropped into the hole without a moment's hesitation; Fox followed shortly thereafter.

In the center of the room at the far end of the grotto was a pedestal similar to the one they had used before. Krystal placed her staff in the slot at the center, and waited for the next power to be released. After she had retrieved her staff, Fox placed his, while she examined her staff and learned about the new ability.

"So, what'd we get now?" Fox asked her.

"A Rocket Booster," she mused. "You can activate it by pressing this symbol, here." She indicated the correct one on her staff, and Fox found the corresponding one on his own. "This will make getting up to higher ledges much easier."

"Does your staff actually _talk_ to you?" To him the idea sounded ridiculous at first, but it wasn't any stranger than anything else he'd seen on this world so far.

"Somewhat," Krystal replied matter-of-factly. "It's not actually words; it's more like an intuitive understanding of what it can do."

"I'm glad you're here to clarify these things," Fox said, "because I'd be hopelessly lost if I had to try to figure everything out by myself."

"I'm delighted I can help," Krystal told him, with a smile that made his heart skip a few beats. They made their way back out of the grotto, and proceeded to the other side of the stream. There appeared to be a pressure switch in a puddle of water at the end of the streambed, but how it kept form corroding was a mystery to both vulpines. The important thing was that it still worked, as Krystal tested by stepping onto it experimentally and causing a gate nearby to slide up into the ceiling. When she let her weight off, however, the gate slid back down into place again. "Looks like one of us will have to remain here," she said, with a little disappointment in her voice. For some reason, she enjoyed being in Fox's company, and she was reluctant to separate from him, even for a little while.

"Maybe not," Fox said. "Wait right here, I'll be back in just a second." He backtracked to the ladder at the entrance, and found a ledge up near the ceiling that he could spring up to with the new power added on to his staff. He placed the end of the staff on the ground, and pressed the glyph that Krystal had indicated. He was a little worried about getting too much of a boost and sending himself rocketing straight into the ceiling, but his worries were not realized, as he was propelled to a height just above the ledge in question, with enough room to get his feet under him for a secure landing. He made his way along the upper ledge, threading around several red mushrooms, until he came to a rock bridge that spanned an area near where Krystal was waiting.

About halfway across there appeared to be a spot where he could plant another bomb spore. Fox made sure he had a clear line of retreat then he placed the spore, took several steps back, and blew up the plant. The shockwave overstressed part of the arch and dropped a hefty stone block down to the level below. Krystal was already in position by the time he dropped down to push the block over to the switch. At an unspoken but mutually understood signal, they both put their shoulders to the block and 

pushed it over onto the switch. With the gate now locked in the up position, they had no trouble passing through to the area beyond.

Fox halted in surprise at seeing a dinosaur sleeping in the center of the room beyond the gate. "What's a Thorntail doing all the way down here?" he wondered aloud. Whatever the reason, Fox could see _another_ bomb-able patch of ground underneath the snoozing dinosaur, so he tried to wake it up. Nothing seemed to work until Krystal flicked the tip of her tail across its snout; the dinosaur gave a tremendous sneeze and looked up at the two foxes with sleep-fogged eyes.

"Do you have a way to see in the dark?" he asked them. Fox responded by pulling out the lantern and showing it to the dinosaur. "Ah, a lantern to light your way," it said. "Good, good, yes very good, excellent…" He continued on in this manner as he moved away from the spot they needed to access. Fox looked at Krystal and raised one eyebrow in silent inquiry about the Thorntail's mental stability, but she just shrugged in response. He shrugged in return and pulled another bomb spore out of his dwindling reserves. He planted it in the patch and was about to blast it, but had another thought. He turned to Krystal and asked "Would the lady care to do the honors this time?"

"Why thank you, kind sir," she said with a giggle, then leveled her staff at the plant and pressed the glyph that sent a blast of energy into the pod. It detonated with a satisfying 'boom', and gave them access to the lowest level of the well. Krystal led the way this time, sliding down the ladder with an ease that spoke of plenty of experience at this sort of action. Upon landing, she looked around and shouted up to Fox, "It's a good thing you got that lantern, it's pretty dark down here! Completely dark, in some places." Fox slid down the ladder to join her, and pulled the firefly lantern out of his pack. He was beginning to have second thoughts about not buying any fireflies from Shabunga, but a glimmer in another chamber caught his eye. He followed the light to see what it was coming from.

The fireflies on Sauria were not miniscule insects that flashed intermittent signals to each other, like those that lived on Corneria. Fireflies here were bioluminescent creatures the size of Fox's fist that hovered and drifted in the air. Fox grabbed the first one and stuffed it into the jar, but the other two were maddeningly just out of reach. He wondered how he was going to get them, when a blue blur streaked by him. Krystal leapt towards the wall, and then sprang off it, turning a somersault in midair and grabbing one firefly in each hand. She executed a perfect landing, and Fox tucked the lantern under his arm to applaud for a second. Krystal smiled and bowed at his praise and held out her catch for him; he opened the lid and she swiftly crammed both fireflies into the lantern.

"Do you think that's enough?" she asked him.

Fox held the lantern out at arm's length, checking to see how much illumination it provided. Even with only three bugs in the jar, it gave off as much light as a decent flashlight. "That should be enough for now," he said to her. "Although, if we find more, we should definitely try to put them in here also." Now that they had enough light to see by, they began to explore the darker sections of the well's bottommost level.

The first white GrubTub was sitting quietly near the wall; which wouldn't have been so bad if there weren't two red mushrooms sitting right next to it, one on either side. Fox hesitated, unsure about how to get the white one without succumbing to the toxic spores from the red ones. Krystal tapped his shoulder to get his attention, and said, "I'll stun the big ones, you grab the other one while they're dizzy." Fox nodded in acknowledgement and readied himself for a sprint. Krystal let loose two blasts from her staff, and both red mushrooms reeled, momentarily stunned. Fox darted in and grabbed the white GrubTub, then ducked back away from the red ones before tucking his catch into his pack. He grinned and gave Krystal a thumbs-up gesture in celebration. She paused, uncertain of what that gesture actually meant; but decided it was an affirmation, based on his cheerful demeanor at that point.

The tow of the scoured the bottom levels of the well, searching for as many white GrubTubs as they could find. For some reason, the mushrooms seemed to gravitate towards their bigger, immobile cousins. Fox wondered if this were some strange instinct in the motile mushrooms, or if it were merely coincidence. In the end, however, with him and Krystal working together, they were able to gather six of the necessary white GrubTubs. Once they had secures their catch, and were sure that there weren't any more they had overlooked, the two foxes returned to the surface.

Fox led the way back to the temple where the Queen was resting, Krystal following closely behind. The two rushed through the entryway to see the Queen lying over on her side; Tricky huddled close to her, as if by his proximity he could coax health back into his mother's body. At the approach of the two foxes, he opened his eyes and sat up. "Did you find them?" he asked hopefully.

"We found six; that was all that was in the well," Fox told the anxious prince. "Do you think that'll be enough?"

"It has to be," Tricky said.

Fox offered the white mushrooms one at a time to the Queen Earthwalker. Because of her semi-delirious state, it took some time before she was able to chew each of them sufficiently to swallow them all, but eventually she had eaten all of the medicinal fungi, and was still.

"Are they working?" Fox asked anxiously.

Krystal laid a hand on the Queen's forehead, just above her brow ridges. "Yes, they're working," the vixen said with relief evident in her voice. "Her health is returning already; now she just needs to rest for a while, to recover her strength."

"Yes!" Fox exulted, pumping his arm up and then down in a gesture of victory. Then he noticed the bemused look Krystal was giving him and said, somewhat more stoically, "Any idea how long she needs?"

"Shouldn't be more than a few hours, Fox," Tricky piped up. "I can stay here while she rests, and tell you when she wakes up again."

"Sounds like a good idea, Tricky," Fox told him. "In the meantime, I think I'll go restock on my supplies."

"Mind if I tag along?" Krystal asked innocently. "Perhaps I can help out some."

"Erm…yeah, sure, I guess you could come with me," Fox said hesitantly. Since they didn't have a clear mission objective to focus on at the moment, his earlier nervousness in the company of this stunningly gorgeous and mysterious vixen had returned in full force.

They exited the structure again, on a mission to collect Scarabs and Bomb Spores to replenish what they had used in the retrieval of the white GrubTubs. At the Bomb Spore plant, Krystal suggested that she blow up the plant, while Fox waited downwind to catch the spores it would throw out. Fox saw the advantage of this plan, and agreed to it; doing so allowed him to grab several bomb spores that would have otherwise landed in the stream and been swept away before he could get to them. When they checked under rocks to find extra Scarabs, Fox used his greater physical strength for the heavy lifting, while Krystal swiftly nabbed any Scarabs that were flushed out of their hiding places. Though only having known each other for half a day, they were falling into a comfortable teamwork routine almost naturally.

They had just finished filling the Scarab bag, and Fox was looking around to see if there was anything else he could use, when a peal of thunder echoed above them. Fox glanced up at the sky in surprise; while he and Krystal had been gathering their supplies, dark clouds heavy with the threat of imminent rain had rolled in above them. Fox rushed to the Arwing, which was parked in a clearing, and grabbed a few potentially useful items before turning to head back to the Temple where the Queen rested. Krystal had already darted in ahead of him, and was waiting a little ways back from the entryway. Fox made it in a split second before the clouds let loose with a torrential downpour, pausing to check and make sure that he hadn't dropped anything in his mad scramble to get in before the rain came. Once he was sure he had everything, he set up a small portable camp stove and started heating some water for a couple of instant-soup MREs.

"So you are from Corneria, is that right?" Krystal asked him suddenly.

"Um, yeah that's right," Fox said uncertainly. He absently noticed that she had a soft, almost lilting accent that was utterly unlike anything he'd heard before. "What about you" he asked her, "where are you from?"

"Cerinia," she said softly. "Have you ever heard of it?"

"No, I can't say that I have," he told her. "What's it like?"

"It… was wonderful," she said, almost sadly. "It had plenty of open space, beautiful wilderness, and the cities were almost like works of art in and of themselves."

"_Was_?" Fox asked, picking up on her use of the past tense. "What happened?"

"It…it was destroyed," she said. "My homeworld… is now nothing more than debris floating around our sun…" She looked down at her feet, with her knees tucked up under her chin, and struggled not to cry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Fox said, at the same time placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Inwardly, he kicked himself; the fact that she had used past tense regarding the state of her homeworld should have been a clue to him, but no, he had to press the issue and bring up painful memories for her. 'McCloud, you dolt,' he thought to himself, 'your first real conversation with her and you've already screwed up.'

"It's not your fault," Krystal said. "There was no way you could have known."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Fox asked, thrown off by the non sequitur.

"You were castigating yourself for bringing up a painful subject, but there was no way you could have known what had happened," Krystal told him. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Just how did you know what I was thinking?" Fox asked uncertainly.

"I can hear people's thoughts," she told him. "It's a talent, what you might call telepathy, which all Cerinians had. I can sense emotional states and what someone is thinking at the moment, and I can determine the approximate locations of sentient minds, if they're conscious."

"Must be pretty handy…" Fox murmured at this revelation. Then a new and horrifying thought occurred to him. "So when we first ran into each other, and I was sitting on the ground…"

Krystal's mouth quirked into a smile. "You have… a very vivid imagination, Fox," she told him teasingly.

Fox buried hi s face in his arms in utter mortification. That low-brow, adolescent fantasy of her that he'd had, the one he'd been relieved at the time that she couldn't have known of… she had seen _the whole thing_! How she'd tolerated his presence so far after that was a complete mystery to him; she must think he was a complete jerk already.

His self-flagellation was interrupted by silvery peals of laughter coming from the vixen who sat next to him. Krystal moved in front of him and took his face in both hands, one hand under his jaw while the other tenderly stroked his cheek. "Fox, Fox," she said to him, "if I had thought so poorly of you, do you think I would have entrusted you with that staff? Do you think I would have followed you through the well if I thought you were a jerk? You're a male, and I'm used to that reaction when men see me for the first time. Actually, I was surprised at the restraint you showed; you were a perfect gentleman even then, especially compared to _some_ of the things I've seen in people's minds. "

Fox's embarrassment diminished somewhat at her speech, but didn't disappear completely. Even if she thought his reaction was normal, he'd been raised to value women as more than simply sex objects. He couldn't let his hormones rule his head…no matter how difficult resisting that temptation 

might be. He mustered his resolve and gave her a small smile of his own. "Thank you for understanding," he said to her, "but I'll try to keep my thoughts more in line from now on."

"See, Fox?" Krystal whispered in his ear. "The mere fact that you strive to improve yourself, in every area, speaks volumes about your true character. I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

"Uh… thanks," Fox said uncertainly. A question came to his mind. "If your homeworld is destroyed, what are you doing now?"

"Searching for answers," she said, with a more serious tone in her voice. "Those who immolated my planet sought some specific result from their actions. I'm trying to find out what that is, and hopefully make sure they do not profit from their atrocity. The mere fact that they are willing to annihilate an entire world to accomplish their goal means that, whatever they had planned, it cannot be anything good."

She hesitated for a moment and then said, "Although the ones directly responsible for Cerinia's destruction died with it, I… felt a presence, as I was fleeing my doomed home. I couldn't actually see anything, but I certainly felt it; a powerful, _evil_ presence, gloating over the destruction of my homeworld, like this was something it had waited for, for a long time. I followed the trail that they had left, and it eventually led me here-and now this planet is in the process of being torn apart, and I was wondering if there was some connection between what happened to my world, and what's happening to this one." She fell silent after that, unwilling to voice what she had encountered in the corridors of the Krazoa Palace.

Fox shook his head in astonishment. Even after losing everything she's ever known, she hadn't surrendered to despair, but had sought to find the reason behind her loss; not for the purpose of retribution, but to make sure it didn't happen again to someone else. He wondered if he would have that kind of strength and resolve, were he in her situation. He also wondered just what the presence she had felt was, but any further conversation was postponed by Tricky's interruption; "Fox! Krystal! My mom's awake, and she wants to talk to both of you!"

The two foxes got to their feet to follow Tricky to where the Queen lay. Fox looked over at Krystal and said, "I'm sorry for what you've lost. If you need anything, and I mean _anything_ don't hesitate to ask."

Krystal smiled at his offer. "Thank you, Fox, you have no idea how much that means to me."

Fox hesitated for a moment then nervously cleared his throat. "Now that the Queen's awake, maybe she can shed some light on what's going on around here. I don't know about you, but I'm completely in the dark as far as the situation here is concerned." The two of them began to move towards where the Queen Earthwalker was resting, both eager to finally have at least a few questions answered.

* * *

_Author's notes: Chapter 9 is here, yay! Fox has found out Krystal is a telepath, and is more than a little embarrassed as a result... I hope that I can build upon the group dynamic that I introduced here. The precise detail of what happened to Krystal's homeworld was never touched upon by Nintendo after they mentioned that she was it's only survivor, so I plan to expound upon a plausible scenario throughout the course of the story. For all who are reading this story, thanks for reading; for all who commented and/or favorited it, double thanks to all of you. _


	10. Chapter 10

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chp. 10

Fox and Krystal rounded the corner and came upon the Earthwalker Queen. The Queen's health had much improved since they last saw her; her breathing was much easier, her head was up, and her eyes seemed free of the dullness that had characterized them the first time Fox had encountered her. Her gaze locked on the two foxes as they entered her line of sight, and she said, "Fox, and… Krystal, on behalf of both my son and myself, I thank you for all you have done."

Krystal bowed her head in acknowledgment. "You're welcome, your majesty."

Fox looked a little uncomfortable from all the attention. "Alright, alright, enough thanks," he said. "Could you just tell us what's going on?"

"Of course," the Queen answered, not bothered by Fox's almost abrupt manner. "This current crisis is the work of General Scales and his followers in the Sharpclaw tribe. They have always wanted to rule our world themselves, but until Scales came to power, they never made a concerted effort to overthrow the ruling tribes. Since Scales became the undisputed leader of the Sharpclaws, however, they have been trying to wrest power all to themselves, without any attempts to achieve a peaceful resolution to this conflict. We have previously been able to hold them at bay, but recently, he has suddenly become much stronger, and has even defeated our army that guarded Krazoa Palace."

"I had an encounter with him before I came here," Krystal said. "Power seems to be all he cares about, and he'll do anything to acquire it, even if it means there will be no one left to rule after he has won. But, why Krazoa Palace? What would he want there?"

"Yeah," Fox interjected, "and how did the _planet_ get into such a mess?"

"Once inside Krazoa Palace, Scales broke the seals that guarded the Force Point Temples," the Queen explained. She paused for a second, and then said, "I believe some background information is in order. This world is rife with a mysterious force, one that is constantly pushing out from the core of the planet. One could call it almost magical. If it were left unchecked, it would eventually tear this planet to pieces. To stop this from happening, the Krazoa, an ancient race of powerful beings who inhabited this world long ago, built the Force Point Temples over the places where this energy is most concentrated, and forged SpellStones from the material of the lands that were most affected by its influence. The SpellStones were placed inside the Temples, where they could absorb the energy and redirect it throughout the planet, where it would do no harm."

"So these seals… what did they do?" Fox asked.

"A seal is like an infinitely complex lock," Krystal told him. "They are normally only used to keep everyone out of a certain place, or to keep something in. Seals are impossible to break by any normal means; one must use whatever is designated as a key to undo them. "

"You are completely correct, young lady," the Queen Earthwalker said. "However, the means to undo the seals that blocked access to the Force Point Temples was located inside the Krazoa Palace. Scales has tried to gain access to the Palace many times in the past, but our armies there have always been able to repel his attacks before. Now, however, he has somehow become much stronger, and defeated the Palace's guards. Once he removed the seals, he entered the Force Point Temples and removed the SpellStones from their resting places, and took them back into the lands they were created from. With nothing left to stop the magical force, the planet was eventually torn apart!"

"I guess I get the picture," Fox said. "Scales takes the SpellStones and the planet falls apart; and so we've got to find the SpellStones and return them to their appropriate Force Point Temples. And if we do this, then the planet will come back together and everything will be saved."

"That is correct, Fox," the Queen affirmed.

"See, mom, I _told_ you he was good!" Tricky said exuberantly.

The Queen looked down at her son, pride in him evident in her expression. She looked back at Fox and said, "My son should remain with you; you will need a dinosaur of noble birth to gain access to the SpellStones."

"What?!" Fox was a little less than thrilled at the stipulation. Tricky had been quite a handful in the short time he'd been in Fox's care, and the prospect of keeping track of the young prince, who seemed to have a predilection for getting into trouble, was not one he eagerly anticipated at all. "I mean, not to question your decision, but don't you think it will be rather… dangerous? There's bound to be trouble- loads of bad guys, lots of fighting, even death!"

"He knows the planet well already," the Queen said evenly. "And I've heard he's already helped you out in several areas; his abilities may prove useful again on your quest."

"Oh yeah," Fox conceded reluctantly. "I forgot about that. But still…"

"Come on, Fox!" Tricky begged. "You and me and Krystal, we'll make a great team! _Please_ let me come with you!"

Fox looked to Krystal for her answer. "His knowledge could prove invaluable," the blue vixen said. "And, if he wants to help, I see no reason not to let him come with us."

"All right," Fox told Tricky. "You can come with us; but if you mess up _even once_ I'll send you straight back to mommy, understood?"

"Okay, okay," Tricky said excitedly, not really paying attention to Fox's warning.

Fox turned to the Queen and said, "So, Your Majesty, it seems that's settled, and now I know what I need to do to put the planet back together again. Do you have any suggestions on where we should start?"

"DarkIce Mines would be a good beginning point," the Queen replied. "I know the Gatekeeper there, his name is Garunda Te. He takes everything far too seriously in my opinion, but he can give you access to the area where the SpellStone has been taken. You can find him in Snowhorn Wastes, but it's a little late to venture out there now, I think. You would probably be best off waiting until tomorrow morning to visit him there."

"Sounds like a plan, then," Fox said. "In the meantime, we'll get something to eat and then catch some sleep."

He turned to head back to the small camp stove he had set up, but the Queen called him back. "Fox? Before I forget, I want to give this to you. The Sharpclaws dropped it when they attacked me; maybe it'll come in handy somewhere?"

The object in question proved to be a somewhat largish key, made of a silvery metal that gleamed even in the dim lighting inside the Temple. Fox picked it up and placed it inside his backpack. "Thank you, Your Majesty," he said. "If there's a key, there has to be a lock somewhere that it goes to, right?" The Queen nodded and smiled at his observation, and laid her head back down to rest. Although she was much healthier than before, she was still recovering from her ordeal and was very tired. Fox and Krystal moved back towards the entrance, while Tricky curled up next to his mother and went to sleep. Fox checked on the water he had left unattended when Tricky had called him over to see the Queen, and was more than a little relieved to see that it had neither boiled dry nor started a fire in the cavern.

Fox took the water off the stove and opened up a pair of instant soup MREs. He poured the water into the packages and let it sit for several minutes, then handed one to Krystal, along with a spare fork and spoon set. Krystal accepted the food and implements with gratitude and began to carefully taste the soup ration. Despite their universally maligned nature, the MRE rations that Fox had packed tasted like actual food; they were just a little bland, and a steady diet of nothing but MREs would leave most people with an intense craving for something with a bit more flavor. Fox, however, didn't start on his dinner right away, but put his head in both hands, as though he were suffering from a headache.

"What's wrong, Fox?" Krystal asked with concern on her face.

"Huh? Oh, nothing's _physically_ wrong, I just… feel completely out of my element here. All this talk about seals, and magic stones, and mysterious energies… not to mention a talking statue that can warp people around the planet, and even these," he indicated the staff currently lying by her feet. Fox shook his head again and put a hand up to his temple. "I don't know; I just feel like I've been plucked out of the normal universe and dropped into some fantasy adventure game, like the ones Slippy likes to play so much."

"You feel disoriented, because most of the strategies and resources that you are used to calling on are no longer available?" Krystal asked, although her tone was almost more statement than question. "And you wonder what help you could possibly be to so many, in such a state?"

"Exactly," Fox said. One eyebrow raised itself slightly on his face, and his mouth quirked into a half-smile. "You practically read my mind," he quipped.

Krystal laughed at his joke, lame though it was. She got up and moved to sit next to him. Even without straining to read his thoughts, she could sense the slight increase in his anxiety level at her proximity. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes as she spoke. "Fox, to be honest, I'm glad you're here. I've been wandering the stars all alone, because there was no one I felt I could trust. Because of my abilities, and my culture, many people either were mistrustful of me, or tried to manipulate and hurt me. Because of my homeworld's destruction and my experiences afterwards, I became suspicious of outsiders, but you… I feel _comfortable_ around you; I feel – no, I _know_ – that I can trust you, with anything."

"I… wow; erm, I mean, I hope I prove worthy of your trust in me," Fox said uncertainly. To someone who was used to rigidly controlling and hiding his feelings, to keep his mind clear and avoid exposing any weaknesses, this open emotionality was more than a little disconcerting. However, at the same time, there was something exhilarating about it, as well. He understood what Krystal meant, and he felt similarly about her; there was an air of openness, of innocence, about her that was incredibly rare in the universe. With a jolt he realized that, if he didn't marry her, he'd want to marry someone just like her; and the thoughts that followed from _that_ caused him to forcefully redirect his mine elsewhere, lest he embarrass himself in front of her again.

Krystal giggled at his answer, although maybe she had sensed the direction his thoughts had been taking as well. She reached down and picked up one of the instant-soup MREs and said, "Dinner's getting cold." It was as good a way as any to steer the conversation to other topics while giving him a means to save face as well. The two of them finished their rations, which were essentially the instant noodles that most college students lived on with some dehydrated vegetables and meats added for variety, and carefully packed the empty containers away and cleaned the utensils.

The rain had since stopped, leaving the vegetation dripping with moisture and the sky clearer than Fox had ever seen, before, except in space. It was also dark, much darker than any night on Corneria would be. Fox had superb night vision, being a fox and all, but he was still careful about his steps; he didn't want to hit an uneven stretch of ground and twist his ankle or anything. He ventured out of the cavern over to the Arwing and pulled out a sleeping bag. Abruptly he realized that Krystal had nothing to cushion the hard stone floor of the Temple while she slept, and he didn't have any extras in the cargo compartment, never having anticipated meeting anyone else on the surface of the planet. For a little while he debated what course of action to take, until finally he decided to offer her the sleeping bag and curl up on the ground himself. It wasn't a comfortable proposition, but he thought the first decision ought to be hers.

He hefted the sleeping bag and a couple of other items he had brought with him back towards the Temple. He was most of the way there when he almost tripped over something that hadn't been there when he left. He quickly lengthened his stride to step over the object instead of on it then put his bundle down and turned to see what it was.

It turned out to be Krystal, lying on her back and looking up at the sky. She started as Fox stepped over her, but didn't sit up until he was safely on the other side. She turned to him and said, "I'm sorry Fox, I didn't know you were there!" At his blank look, she explained, "If my attention is focused elsewhere, I might not sense when someone else is coming."

"I see," Fox said, although he was still getting used to the idea of someone who could read minds. Somehow, however, this bit of information made her seem a bit more approachable, to know she wasn't omniscient, that she could be distracted like anyone else could. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

"Looking up at the stars," she replied, with a trace of wistfulness in her voice. "When I was just a kit on Cerinia, I used to stay outside and look up at them all night, until I went to sleep. I wanted to explore, to go beyond my homeworld and see what else was out there. Cerinia didn't have nearly as many spacecraft as this system seems to, but we had a few; although, when one exploratory shuttle was lost with all hands aboard, future spaceflights were sharply curtailed." She sat up and looked at him. "What about you, Fox? Was there something you dreamed of doing as a kit?"

Fox chuckled a bit as he unrolled the sleeping bag. "Ever since I was old enough to understand what it meant, I wanted to be a starfighter pilot, like my father. He was a pilot for the Cornerian Aerospace Force at first, but when my mom was killed in a car bomb, he withdrew from the military and became a freelance pilot."

"Freelance." Krystal repeated. "You mean a mercenary?"

Fox looked a little uncomfortable by the way she had said that. "Well, technically by the definition of the term, yeah," he answered after a while. "But not in the way that most people seem to think of mercenaries. He kept a standing contract with Corneria; all General Pepper had to do was call and dad would be right where Pepper needed him. Dad was always willing to help others; he just didn't want to put himself or his friends in harm's way for no apparent benefit. He took side jobs also, but they were always things like convoy escorts, or rooting out nests of pirates, or something similar, nothing that would put him in conflict with Corneria. He had a couple of other pilots with him; Peppy Hare and Pigma Dengar. Collectively the team was called Star Fox."

"So, they were more like knights-errant than soldiers for hire," Krystal mused. "That almost has a… romantic tone to it." She couldn't help but notice Fox's sudden discomfiture at the mention of the word 'romantic'. She knew he felt attracted to her, and felt similarly about him; but he was still trying to determine whether his feelings were grounded in anything more substantial than fluctuating hormones. That was one of the things she liked about him; he cared enough to make sure that he _loved_ her, and did not simply _lust_ after her.

She wanted to learn more about his past; from the way he had spoke of his father and Star Fox, she believed that something tragic had happened to them; however, it was getting late, and they both needed to rest so they could head out for Snowhorn Wastes at morning's first light tomorrow. She was about to lay back down on the sandy ground when she noticed Fox holding the sleeping bag out to her. "What's this," she asked him.

"It's a sleeping bag," he told her. "It's too warm to need to wrap up in it, but I thought you might like something a little softer than the ground to sleep on tonight."

Krystal was more than a little surprised, and touched by his offer. She ran her fingertips along the fabric of the bag, marveling at how soft it felt. She was about to thank him for his offer when a thought crossed her mind; "What about you? Where will you sleep?"

"I'll make do, don't worry about me," he said.

"But you're giving this up for me," she protested. "I'd feel churlish if I took this all for myself and made you sleep on the ground. Didn't you bring another one?"

"I ah, when I first started this mission, I thought I would be working all on my own, so I only brought supplies for one," he said a little sheepishly.

Krystal's hand found the zipper on the side of the sleeping bag, and she unzipped the roll completely, doubling its surface area. Inside was a flannel sheet that would be all the cover anyone would need on a night like this. An idea came to her; "Look. If we spread this out, we can both rest on it, and it would still be soft enough to cushion the ground."

"Um, well…I guess that would work," Fox said uncertainly. Truth be told, the thought of snuggling up next to her for the night was both alluring and distressing; he really was liking her more every minute longer he spent in her company, but he was afraid he might do something rash and make a complete fool of himself.

Krystal must have picked up on his worry, because she lifted the flannel sheet up and asked, "Do you mind if I use this?"

"Not at all," Fox replied. She wrapped the sheet around her body toga-style, leaving her arms bare but covering most of the rest of her body. Fox lay back on the unfolded sleeping bag and laced his fingers together behind his head. Krystal lay back down on the sleeping bag and mimicked his posture. It really was a gorgeous night to sleep under the stars; the sandy soil they rested on had drained enough that they wouldn't get damp from it, and the night sky was awash with stars, which burned fiercely bright without anything to drown their light out. Krystal looked over at Fox and found that he had already fallen asleep; his military background meant that he could fall in and out of sleep at the blink of an eye.

Krystal smiled to herself and adjusted her position so that her head rested on Fox's right shoulder. Although Fox was still uncertain of his feelings for her, she, being a telepath, had an edge on the "getting-to-know-you" factor of relationships. There were still things she didn't know about him, but they were mere details, elaborations on what she had already learned about his basic character. She was certain she was falling in love with him; it seemed illogical, having only known him for a part of a day, but she was certain of the nature of his heart. She closed her eyes and listened with her mind to the soft ebb and flow of his somnolent thoughts. In this way, comforted by his presence, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Author's Notes: This chapter was originally supposed to go up to their flight to DarkIce Mines, but my mind went off on a tangent, putting in some background information for Krystal and having Fox relate some of his past to her. The two of them learning about the respective pasts of the other will probably be a subplot over the course of the story; gradually, Krystal will learn about Fox's family tragedies and Fox (and you readers) will learn about Krystal's homeworld and how it was destroyed, and why. Next Chapter: Snowhorn Wastes, Garunda Te, and Krystal's first Arwing ride!_


	11. Chapter 11

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chp. 11

Krystal's dreams were, for once, devoid of nightmares; no premonitions of impending peril, no dark memories of past tragedy. She slept more soundly than she had slept since Cerinia's immolation – so she was more than a little irritated to have her slumber interrupted by a tickle on her nose. She tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but the sensation persisted. Eventually it became too much to ignore, and she opened her eyes – to see nothing in front of her. The tickle persisted, so she crossed her eyes to focus on the tip of her muzzle, and saw a butterfly that had landed on her nose. The tickling sensation she felt came from the insect's tiny feet as it walked across her face and spread its wings to catch the rays of the morning sun. She sneezed violently, the blast of air catapulting the butterfly up a foot into the air, where it tumbled for a second before regaining its balance, and flew off to a more stable perch.

"Cheeky insect," Krystal murmured to herself in Cerinian. Her nose still tingled, but the urge to sneeze again didn't return. Morning was breaking over the horizon, the soft glow of sunrise barely visible over the cliff that ringed Thorntail Hollow. She sat up and stretched, luxuriating in the feel of a good night's rest, then looked down to see Fox still snoring gently beside her. She smiled to herself; despite his mercenary profession, there was an air of nobility about him. It wasn't a matter of bloodlines; it was a purity of heart and mind (well, perhaps not _completely _of mind) that made her feel comfortable in his presence. She nudged him gently and whispered in his ear, "Fox, time to wake up."

He mumbled slightly and rolled over, before opening one bleary eye to see Krystal watching him, with an amused expression on her face. "What? What is it?" he asked.

"It's time to get up, that's what it is," Krystal told him with a smile. "I take it you are not a morning person?"

"No, not really," Fox said. Nonetheless, he managed to sit up without any further prompting. "I'm not really awake until I've had a cup of coffee in the morning."

"What's coffee?" Krystal wanted to know.

Fox smiled a bit to himself. "Let me get a cup of water to boil and I'll show you." He took the stainless steel cup that he'd used the previous night and filled it up with water from the stream that ran through the middle of Thorntail Hollow, then he set up the camp stove again and started heating the water. While he waited for the water to heat up, he opened a package of instant coffee and inhaled the aroma.

"Mmm, that smells nice," Krystal commented over his shoulder. He jumped and turned to see her leaning over and sniffing the air near the opened packet. "Could I have a taste when it's ready?"

"Sure, I guess," Fox told her. "Although, coffee doesn't usually taste exactly the same way it smells, especially instant mixes like this one."

"I'll try anything once," Krystal told him.

The water had come to a boil, so Fox took the cup off the heat and poured the contents of the packet into the water. He stirred the liquid around, and Krystal watched in mild fascination as the water turned from clear to black. Fox waited until he was sure that the coffee had cooled to the point where it wouldn't burn anyone's tongue, then offered Krystal the first drink. She took an experimental sip, and grimaced at the bitter taste of the black beverage. "It must be an acquired taste," she told him, as he tried to hide a smile at her reaction. Truth be told, he preferred his coffee with creamer and sweetener, not black as it was now; only the fact that his taste buds were still asleep kept him from making the same expression Krystal had as he drank the rest of it down.

"I don't suppose you have…err, _had_ anything like this back home?" Fox asked her suddenly.

"We had _chtai,_" Krystal answered. "It was a beverage that came from the leaves of certain plants in Cerinia's tropical regions. The leaves were minced and steeped in boiling water, and the drink it made was similar to your coffee, except… a bit sweeter," she said with a wry grin.

"Sounds like I might have liked it," Fox told her with a smile.

"Yes, probably," Krystal replied, a trace of sadness creeping into her tone at the thought of something else lost with her homeworld. Strangely, though, it didn't seem quite as sharp a pain as other things had before. Perhaps it was because she was sharing good memories of her home with someone, instead of dwelling on the bad by herself. She looked over at Fox again, to see him mentally kicking himself over bringing up another sad memory for her.

"Stop that," she told him. At his blank look, she elaborated, "Don't beat yourself up over bringing up memories of my homeworld. Because of what happened, every memory will be bittersweet, but to pretend that it never existed, just to avoid that pain, is…unhealthy." She paused for a second, then continued, "Actually, I think that by sharing the good memories with you, I make them stronger. My people believed that by remembering those we love who have passed on, they lived on within us. Now, I'm the only one left to remember a whole world, and having someone to share that with makes it easier to bear."

She reached out to tenderly brush his cheek as she said this, and was more than a little amused at how his anxiety level spiked whenever the two of them were in close contact. On Cerinia, no one bothered to hide their feelings, because everyone could already tell what you were thinking. Fox was no telepath, so he wasn't used to having his entire mind on parade display all the time. He was more used to hiding the true extent of his feelings, but Krystal was convinced that all she had to do was be patient, to let him open up to her at a pace he was comfortable with. She _knew_, in her heart, that she liked him, and that the feeling could easily grow into love; but she also knew that if she pushed things too fast she'd be more likely to scare him off than anything else.

After a breakfast of cold ration bars, which Krystal actually ate faster than Fox, they packed up the bedding and stowed it back in the Arwing's cargo compartment. Krystal doffed the sheet that she'd had wrapped around her body, and folded it up neatly before tucking it back in the sleeping bag as Fox rolled it up. This left her in her usual bra-and-loincloth outfit that seemed to draw Fox's eyes whenever he didn't have some immediate task to focus on – as it was doing now. She smiled and asked, "So, which way to Snowhorn Wastes, then?"

"Umm, I think we go up the ladder behind the well and that passage will lead us to Snowhorn Wastes," Fox answered hesitantly; he was still a little distracted by the image of the vixen who stood before him. He shook off the paralysis that seemed to envelop him every time he let his gaze fixate on Krystal, and turned to head towards the indicated path. Something nagged at the back of his mind, something that he was forgetting; but it didn't come back to mind, so he shrugged it off and stopped at the ladder. He turned to Krystal and said, "Ladies first?"

"Actually, Fox, I think you ought to lead this time," she said with a slight grin. Fox wondered why she would say that, then realized; if she was climbing the ladder, first and he was below her…. He wrenched his line of thought away from that course before it could get him into trouble. He could feel his face heating up with chagrin, and turned towards the ladder to hide the fact that his ears were beginning to turn pink from his blush. Not that it really mattered what he did, she could probably sense the embarrassment directly from his mind. He climbed the ladder that led to the upper level, but when he got to the top, he nearly fell off with surprise; Tricky sat right in front of the ladder, grinning widely.

"Fox, you weren't thinking of leaving without me, were you?" the Earthwalker prince said with a trace of censure in his tone.

"Um…honestly, I wasn't thinking about it one way or the other, actually," Fox confessed. "Sorry, Tricky, I completely forgot." A tap on his boot served to remind him that Krystal was coming up behind him, and he quickly scrambled the rest of the way up the ladder so as to give her room to ascend the rest of the way. She blinked in surprise at seeing Tricky waiting for them at the top and asked, "How'd you get up here?"

"Sorry, it's a secret. Mom made me swear not to tell, "Tricky said.

"Don't worry about it too much," Fox told her. "Look on the bright side; it means we don't have to carry him every time we come to a ledge or a ladder."

"No small consideration," Krystal affirmed. Although Tricky wasn't that tall at the shoulder, he was longer than he was tall and, being a dinosaur, was no featherweight. Carrying him, especially for any great length of time, would likely be a royal pain.

Now that their party was fully assembled, they started on the hike to Snowhorn Wastes. The path they travelled was actually more of a tunnel that led through the cliffs and to the other region. There was a section that crossed through what appeared in structure to be a sewer, except that instead of cess clear and pristine water ran through the channel. They were saved from having to swim through it by a ledge that ran along the edge of the corridor; it wouldn't be a good idea to arrive in a sub-zero environment soaking wet. Again, the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important echoed in the back of Fox's mind, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was.

From what Fox had been able to tell, Thorntail Hollow could almost act as a sort of hub, a central crossroads from which they could access any other territory (except for the ones in orbit, of course) without having to cross the entire rest of the planet in the process. Fox would have thought, considering the temperature difference between the two regions, that the path would have been longer, or that he would have at least noticed a distinct slope as they changed altitude, but the path was level and flat, and it was only about ten minutes before the group of three emerged in the cavern exit that led out onto Snowhorn Wastes proper. The guard didn't give them any trouble, and let them pass through without incident.

Fox and Tricky emerged into the sunlight again, blinking their eyes from the glare of light reflecting off the snow. Krystal wasn't as affected by the glare, but she had a much more urgent concern. As Fox turned around, he could see her with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, eyes wide and teeth chattering from the cold. "I th-think I m-may be a b-b-bit underdressed," she managed to stammer out. Fox slapped his forehead in disbelief. After all that he'd suffered from the cold his last trip through here, how could he have forgotten that Krystal had nothing on that would help insulate her from the below-freezing temperatures?

He thought frantically, racking his brain for a solution. By the time a drop pod arrived from the Great Fox, Krystal would likely be suffering from intense hypothermia, so that wasn't a viable solution. He thought for a moment longer then remembered his vest; it wouldn't keep her warm in a blizzard, but it could keep her core body temperature up high enough that she wouldn't suffer from the cold much. He swiftly shucked the vest and held it out to her, and said, "Here, put this on, it'll help at least a little."

She looked at him with the utmost gratitude in her eyes, and put the vest on around her shoulders and fastened the closures in front. She frowned for a second and wiggled it around, trying to get it situated so that it was more comfortable.

"Is something wrong?" Fox asked.

"Nothing much," she said, "it's just a little tight across the chest, and…Don't you DARE laugh!" she shouted, seeing him turn away and put his hands over his mouth to stifle a snicker. He coughed to try to cover it up, and she adjusted the vest a little more before she felt comfortable with its fit. Finally, she had it situated so that it was comfortable to wear, and didn't rub or press uncomfortably against any part of her torso.

"Better?" Fox asked after she was finished.

"Yes, much," she replied. "Although, please understand what I mean when I say I hope we don't have to stay here for very long."

"Yeah," Fox agreed. "Let's find Garunda Te quickly so we can get back to a warmer environment." The three of them walked out of the cavern and across the snowfield. Fox hoped to ask the Snowhorns where they could find Garunda Te, but none were in immediate sight. His attention was diverted by the sight of a large wrought-iron gate set into a section of the cliff, with a large lock prominently set into the wall opposite the hinges. 'Eh, it's worth a shot,' he thought to himself, and pulled out the key that the Queen Earthwalker had given to him the night before. It fit perfectly into the key slot, and with a slight twist to the left, the gate unlocked with a clunk and swung slowly open.

"I can hear a voice," Krystal said quietly. "It's coming from over there." She started towards the source of the sounds she heard, with Fox and Tricky following close behind her. The trail led them around a small rise and up a hill. From there, the voice became distinct; a call for aid coming from what at first appeared to be a frozen-over pond. As they drew closer, however, it became evident that the 'pond' was actually a sheet of ice over a large sinkhole, inside which was held a somewhat haggard-looking Snowhorn. Unlike the other Snowhorns in the area, this one wore a metal cap on his head, and had metal tips on the end of his tusks. Krystal knelt by the hole that was left in the center of the ice sheet, and asked him, "Are you Garunda Te?"

"That's me," the Snowhorn said. "What brings you here?"

"Ah, we're looking for you, actually," Fox said, coming up on Krystal's left. "We were hoping you could let us into the DarkIce Mines, but…it looks like you're the one who needs help first."

"The Sharpclaws have imprisoned me in this infernal cave," Garunda Te said. "Normally, I could break this ice with little effort, but right now it's been so long since I've eaten, my strength isn't what it should be, right now."

"Just hang on there, we'll get you out," Fox assured him. He took the sharp end of his staff and began chipping away at the ice, starting at the central hole through which the imprisoned Snowhorn could still breathe. Krystal joined him in the effort, while Tricky kept watch for trouble. After several minutes, Fox stopped chipping at the ice and took a breath. "Whew, this is too slow," he said.

Krystal was about to offer encouragement when movement caught her eye. "Fox, we've got trouble coming!" she warned. A trio of angry-looking Sharpclaws sauntered out from a cavern and took up positions to attack the would-be rescuers. These were the same blue-scaled specimens that he'd faced earlier in this region, and Fox wondered if they were stationed here because they could handle the colder temperatures better than their tan-colored cousins. Others began to pour out from the cavern, threatening to overwhelm the party with sheer force of numbers.

"If you can bring me some Frost Weeds, I should be able to break myself out!" Garunda Te shouted to them. "Hurry!"

"Great," Fox said in reply. "So where do we find those?"

"Here!" Tricky called. "This tree has Frost Weeds on it!" Tricky suited action to words by ramming the tree so indicated and shaking loose one of the semi-parasitic plants that were attached to the top. It dropped to the ground and the Earthwalker prince grabbed it and rushed to the hole where Garunda Te's trunk emerged like a snorkel. The Snowhorn grabbed the weed once it was within reach and pulled it down under the ice, where he promptly consumed it. Tricky hurried back to the tree to grab another Frost Weed, while Fox and Krystal set up to cover him during his errands.

Fox met the first Sharpclaw to approach him with a rapid one-two-three strike, battering it about the head and shoulders and knocking it to the snow, unconscious. The second he greeted with a roundhouse kick to the chest that dropped the dinosaur back on its tail, then he downed it with a blow to the head. The grunt's helmet kept the blow from breaking any bones, but it was still a powerful enough hit to knock the dinosaur unconscious. Despite their losses, the Sharpclaws continued to press forward, and more emerged from the cavern to replace those who had fallen. "Just how many soldiers are in there?" Fox wondered aloud. He turned to see if Krystal needed any help, but was distracted by the graceful way in which the azure-furred vixen fought.

Several Sharpclaws were already kissing the snow where she stood, and even as Fox turned to watch, she dropped another grunt to the ground with a flurry of staff strikes. The next grunt was sufficiently far away from her that she could spare a second to kick a Frost Weed over to Tricky. The Earthwalker continued his back-and-forth errands, operating under the protection of the two foxes. Krystal then turned her attention to the approaching enemy, flourishing her staff before stabbing it straight out like a spear, catching the Sharpclaw in the stomach with the blunt end of the weapon. The dinosaur fell to the ground, curled up in a fetal position with the pain. Another grunt attempted to rush her while she was distracted, but she sensed his approach immediately and pivoted to face him, swinging her staff low to cut his legs out from underneath him, and then reversing her swing and slamming it across his shoulder blades as he fell, driving him face-first into the snow.

A glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye was all the warning Fox had of the dangers of being distracted in a combat situation. Fortunately, his pilot's reflexes were up to the task, and he ducked in time to avoid the agony of a fractured skull; a whoosh of air by his face showed him how close he had come to experiencing the sensation. The Sharpclaw that had attacked him, expecting a hit to absorb the force of the swing, overbalanced and allowed Fox the opportunity to slam his staff down on the dinosaur's back. Despite the party's success in combat, however, more and more guards just kept pouring out, and Fox began to despair of ever beating all of them. He readied himself for the next wave, but a trumpeting bellow cut through the noise of the battle, and all heads turned to the source of the noise.

Tricky had finally gotten enough Frost Weeds to Garunda Te that the Snowhorn gatekeeper had regained a measure of his old strength. He burst out of the ice that had covered his prison with a roar, ready to exact vengeance upon those who had imprisoned him. The Sharpclaws knew they stood no chance against an enraged Snowhorn bull, and as one they dropped their weapons and turned and fled. He watched their retreat with a mix of amusement and disappointment, and then turned to those who had helped him break free. "Ah, the young prince," he said by way of greeting to Tricky, whom he saw first. Then, seeing the two foxes standing next to the Earthwalker, he asked, "And, ah, who are these with you?"

"These are my friends Fox and Krystal," Tricky replied. "My mom sent us to find you; we need your permission to enter DarkIce Mines to retrieve the SpellStone."

"The SpellStone, hmm?" Garunda Te mused. "As a Gatekeeper it is my duty to guard the land from which the SpellStone was forged; but I am also the chieftain of the Snowhorn tribe, and have a responsibility to care for my people as well. When General Scales had taken the SpellStone for DarkIce mines, he came to me with an ultimatum; allow him to take the Stone back into the land from which it had come, or he would slaughter my entire tribe. Despite this threat, I could not risk the safety of the entire planet, no matter what the consequences, so I refused him. My daughter, Belina, however, disagreed with me, and used her own powers to open the way herself." Garunda looked down at the ground for a second before continuing, "She dishonored me, and all the gatekeepers, by giving in to Scales' demands."

"I'm sure she was only trying to save her people," Krystal said diplomatically. "I don't think that was a winnable situation."

"You are probably right, young lady," Garunda Te said softly. "And despite what she did, I still worry about her safety. Her actions may have saved our tribe from extinction, but instead of destroying us Scales enslaved most of us instead. He has taken his captives up to the Mines, to labor in them, my daughter included. If you should happen to see her…"

"We'll keep an eye out, I promise," Fox assured him.

"Thank you, young man," Garunda said, relief evident on his features. "I shall open the gateway for you, but you will still need a way to actually reach the Mines." The Snowhorn chieftain exhaled softly, and a trail of luminescence left his trunk and spiraled into the sky. It opened up into a funnel-like portal, eerily similar to depictions Fox had seen of black holes, a comparison he was not too happy with.

He shook off the discomfiture he felt at such a resemblance, and turned back to Garunda Te. "Don't worry, we have our own transportation." He left out the little worry he had about how he would fit three people into a craft designed only for one, but knew there was a solution somewhere. He shrugged and left it alone; like everything else so far, the solution would probably become evident once they reached that point. "Is that everything, then?" he asked the Snowhorn.

"Your path is cleared," Garunda answered him. "Success or failure rests solely in your hands now."

"Great, then let's head back to Thorntail Hollow. Is everyone ready?"

"We're ready!" Krystal and Tricky chorused back to him. The group turned to head back to their unofficial base of operations, all of them glad to leave the frigid climes of Snowhorn Wastes behind them for the time being. They passed through the entrance to the cavern without incident, and made their way through the caverns and tunnels back to Thorntail Hollow. When they emerged in the ledge that overlooked the rest of the area, Tricky simply dropped from that level down to the ground, while Krystal slid down the ladder and cleared the way for Fox to follow. Once he was down, she turned to him and asked, "What's next?"

"First order of business is to get some warmer clothes, for both of us," Fox said, chuckling at Krystal's emphatic agreement. He began walking back to the Arwing, opening a comm channel to the Great Fox in the process. Looking around, he noticed that Krystal had wandered off elsewhere to find some supplies. When the signal got through, Fox saw that Slippy was on comm duty at the time. "Hey, Slip, how's it going up there?"

"Slow, Fox," the amphibian replied. "But other than that, it's not too bad. Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, could you guys drop two sets of cold-weather thermal suits? I get the impression that the next place I'm going is rather chilly, and I don't think my current outfit is up to the task."

"On their way in just a moment Fox, but why do you need _two_?"

Fox hesitated, not wanting to open himself up for any ribbing over Krystal, but at the same time unwilling to lie to his teammates. "I, ah, met someone else here who shares our mission objectives, and she doesn't have any cold-weather gear either."

"_She_?" Slippy said with the beginnings of a smirk on his face.

"Don't start, Slippy," Fox growled menacingly. "Just make sure you get those thermal suits on the way."

"Sure thing, Fox," the toad affirmed. "I'm going to put Peppy on the line while I get your drop order ready." Slippy moved out of the transmitter's line of sight, and Peppy Hare appeared in the image instead, sipping at a cup of coffee.

"How's it going up there, old timer?" Fox asked with a grin.

"It's quiet. Just the way I like it," Peppy answered. "No attacks on the Great Fox, and we're high enough in orbit that there's no danger of asteroid impacts. Oh, Fox, before I forget, I think that if you could scan those maps in the store with your PDA, you could use the compass function to give yourself a real-time image of your location in any given region. It might come in handy."

"Great, that means I'd have to buy them first," Fox grumbled. "Otherwise the Storekeeper won't even let me near them." He grinned suddenly at the holographic image of the hare displayed above his PDA. "Looks like you'll be getting a few souvenirs out of this venture, Pep."

"Always good to hear," Peppy replied with a chuckle of his own. "One last thing; I sent General Pepper a message about those Venom drones you fought –"

"_Venom_?! Did he just say _Venom_?" Fox jumped at Krystal's voice and turned to see her just an arm's reach away, an intense look in her eyes.

Peppy looked about as surprised as Fox did, though for different reasons. "Fox, who was that?"

Fox sighed in resignation; there wasn't really any avoiding this now. "Peppy, meet Krystal," he said, turning the PDA receiver lens to focus it on her. "Krystal, meet Peppy Hare."

"Um, hello sir," Krystal said, a little uncertainly. It was a new experience for her to talk to someone without him actually being there in front of her, not to mention the fact that she couldn't sense his thoughts over the comm signal. The hare's easygoing, gentle nature seemed to put her more at ease, though.

"Hello, Krystal," Peppy said, with a mix of courtesy and geniality. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you react so strongly to the mention of Venom?"

"Because agents of Venom were the ones responsible for the destruction of my homeworld!" she exclaimed. It was the first time Fox had noticed any sort of animosity in Krystal's tone, but the look in her eyes right now made him glad he wasn't the subject of her anger. "They told us they were trying to study our world, in order to learn how to undo the damage that had been done to their own. We learned too late that they had other, much more malignant intentions, and something went wrong with what they were trying to do, and by the time we realized just what was happening…" She broke off, unable to continue. Fox put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she surprised him by turning it into a hug and pressing her face against his shoulder, seeking a measure of comfort in his proximity.

Peppy looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's not your fault, sir," Krystal tried to reassure him. "It's just that every time the subject comes up, I get all worked up over it until…" She took a breath to help get her emotions back under control, and it seemed to help, because her next words were much calmer. "I was the only survivor, as far as I know. Sometimes I wonder why I alone was spared when everyone else was lost. Ever since my homeworld was destroyed, I've been wandering the galaxy, trying to find out why. Those men form Venom had some goal in mind, and just because their plan failed once doesn't mean there aren't others who would try to repeat it again, elsewhere. I want to make sure they don't profit from their atrocity."

"I see," Peppy said. "Ah, Miss Krystal..., would you mind if I had a few words in private with my team leader?"

"No, that's no problem," she told him. She looked at Fox for a second then said, "Maybe I could get some of those maps you were talking about in the meantime?"

"I don't see why not," Fox said. "Bedsides, you seem to be a better haggler than I am anyway." She chuckled at his admission, and he handed the Scarab bag over to her. "Get maps for DarkIce Mines, Thorntail Hollow, and Snowhorn Wastes first," he told her as she headed towards the store. Fox turned back to the comm unit to see Peppy with a thoughtful expression on his face. "What is it, Peppy?"

"You're behaving yourself down there, aren't you Fox?" Peppy asked, with a hint of a crooked grin on his face to show that he was simply teasing the pilot. "Keeping your hands where they belong, not letting your hormones interfere with your better judgment?" Fox's mouth quirked in a half-snarl, half-smirk. It was no secret that his personal life was almost nonexistent. While it was true that there were any number of females on the more populated planets of Lylat who would love to be seen on the arm of the great hero, Fox McCloud, Fox felt certain that it was only because of his fame. He belied the stereotype of pilots as smooth-talking womanizers; he was in fact atrociously inarticulate around women, never knowing what was appropriate to say at a given point in a conversation. Still, there was no way he would simply let Peppy get away with teasing him like that.

"Don't worry, Peppy I've been a perfect gentleman the whole time I've been down here," Fox growled. "Krystal's a telepath, apparently, so if I wanted to try anything untoward, she'd know immediately. And, if I did make any advances she didn't like, she'd probably knock me on my butt."

"How did you two even meet? And I can't help but notice that she was wearing your vest."

Oh, we just sort of…ran into each other," Fox said nonchalantly. "I offered her my vest because one of our latest trips took us to a frigid section of the planet and she was a little underdressed for the weather. And I f you're implying that I'm only trying to get into her pants…don't worry, she doesn't wear any," Fox concluded with a mischievous smile. He snickered at the choking sounds coming over the comm; apparently, he'd caught Peppy in mid-sip with that little tidbit, and the old hare was struggling to digest that image. After the hare had recovered, Fox continued in a somewhat more sober tone, "Realistically, Peppy, she seems to know what's going on here a bit better than I do, and she's no slouch in a fight. I think our mission here benefits from her presence."

Peppy nodded at Fox's assessment of the situation, and replied, "It does seem like you have your head on straight about her, Fox. If Venom was involved in something outside the Lylat system, then I'm pretty sure General Pepper would be interested to hear about that. I'll forward that information to him next time we send an update. Peppy, out." The hologram faded from sight, and Fox turned to look back in the direction of the Thorntail Hollow store. He didn't see Krystal anywhere, so he started walking over to the entrance to check up on her.

He was almost to the cavern mouth when he heard her voice: "Fox, could you lend a hand?" He hurried the rest of the way and looked down to see her juggling twelve rolled-up sheets of parchment, six under each arm. His eyes popped at the sight of so many maps, and he scrambled down the rock face to offer assistance.

"I'm sure I only asked for _three_ maps," he said.

"You did, and I got those first," she said evenly. "But since I was in there already, I went ahead and bought the rest while I was at it. We're going to need them all, eventually."

"Alright, alright," he said. "So, how much did they all cost?"

"Altogether? Fifty-four Scarabs. I found a small alcove that apparently Shabunga doesn't know about, and I was able to find a few Scarabs there, so you have twenty-six Scarabs left in the bag." At his open-mouthed gape of astonishment, she giggled. "You _did_ say that I was a good haggler, and honestly I think that Shabunga enjoyed the process. He managed to finally sell all the dusty old maps sitting in his store, and we have a much clearer picture of the areas we'll be travelling to. The best deal is one where each party feels like they got the better and of the bargain."

Fox shook his head in amazement at her shrewd business acumen, even as the two of them began walking back towards the Arwing. He probably wouldn't have been able to fare as well as she had against the storekeeper; granted, she could tell exactly how far she could underbid the price while it still remained acceptable, but he would have probably wound up dropping far more money at the store than she had.

Krystal's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Oh, while I was looking around the area for supplies, I found some of these," she said, indicating a trio of fuel cells. "Are they important?"

"Yeah, you might say that," Fox said. _Important_ was a masterful understatement; with these three fuel cells added to the ones he'd already found, they now had enough fuel to reach DarkIce Mines… which meant that, if everyone was ready, then it was time for them to be on their way. He looked up into the sky, and saw the drop pod coming down on a course that would have it landing a few yards from the Arwing. Once it landed, he pulled out a pair of white snowsuits, perfectly suited for the colder temperatures they were going to encounter at DarkIce Mines. He donned his and showed Krystal how to put her own on, then turned to see where Tricky had gone to. He found the Earthwalker prince stalking a pair of blue GrubTub mushrooms, although it seemed for play than an actual attempt to eat them.

"Tricky," Fox shouted, "it's time to go!" The young Earthwalker came bounding across the field, eager to be on the way. Fox tapped a pair of buttons on his PDA and the cockpit and bomb-bay doors opened on the Arwing.

Tricky looked uncertainly at the bomb chute. "Um, Fox, are you sure this is safe?"

"Don't worry Tricky, we tested this already; the bomb bay is airtight when sealed." This was, in fact, the manner in which he and the rest of Star Fox had managed to smuggle an organized-crime informant out of a space station once, during the long hiatus between jobs they'd been waiting through. That had been back before Falco had left the group to strike off on his own. Tricky tested the ramp hesitantly, then walked up into the bay and settled down.

"Where do I ride?" Krystal asked.

"There should be just enough space behind the pilot's seat if I adjust it forward all the way," Fox said. "You could probably squeeze in there; unless, of course, you want to trade places with Tricky," he finished with a grin.

"I think I'll ride with you," she said. "I enjoy your company." She giggled at his suddenly nervous posture, and asked, "So are we all ready to go then?"

"Yeah, all fueled and ready," he said, his voice in a higher register than usual from tension. He waved a hand towards the Arwing and said, "Ladies first?"

"Why thank you sir, you're too kind," Krystal said. She vaulted up the steps that led up to the cockpit and settled herself in behind the pilot's chair, then Fox came up after her and strapped himself in. "You alright back there?" she asked her.

"I'm comfortable enough," she replied.

"How about you, Tricky?" Fox called through the floor into the bomb-bay.

"It's completely dark in here, but otherwise, I'm fine." Tricky's reply came through a bit muffled from the material between him and the pilot, but clear enough.

"All right, then, off we go!" Fox shouted, bringing the throttle up slowly and guiding the starfighter up into the air. When he had enough distance between himself and the ground, he titled the craft's nose up to the sky, and punched the throttle to full. The Arwing leapt forward as though eager to get back into space, and was swiftly lost to the sight of the Thorntails that watched from below. The group was off to get their first SpellStone.

* * *

_Author's notes: Whew, this is probably the longest chapter I've typed for this story. Sorry for the delay, but I hope this chapter was worth it. _


	12. Chapter 12

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chapter 12

Fox brought the Arwing's nose around to point in the direction of Snowhorn Wastes. He felt Krystal's hand grip the fabric of the seat a little tighter as the sky seemed to shift around her, then imagined her puzzlement as to why she didn't feel any g-forces from the maneuver. He answered her unspoken question: "The Arwing is equipped with g-diffusers that buffer the effects of high-gravity turns and acceleration. They're part of why this ship is so maneuverable, it can pull acrobatics that would either shake other ships apart or make the pilot black out." He didn't add that he was relying on them to keep his passengers from bouncing around like pinballs should he need to make any evasive maneuvers. There was no point in making them worry about something they couldn't do anything about, anyway.

"Sounds like a fascinating vessel," she replied. She reached past his shoulder to point at a blur of light ahead in the sky. "Is that the Gateway?" she asked.

"Yeah, that looks like it," Fox responded. "Odd, though, the odometer says we've already gone a couple thousand kilometers, but it certainly didn't feel that long on foot."

"Maybe the passage we went through before has some sort of space-folding mechanism?" she asked. He turned to look at her in surprise, and she giggled then said, "Cerinia may not have been up to Lylat's technology level, but we _did_ have spaceflight capabilities, and a certain working knowledge of physics. Just because I dress primitively, by your reckoning, doesn't mean I'm ignorant."

Fox looked away in chagrin. He didn't know if she had read his mind on that point or if she was simply used to people thinking that about her, but she was pretty close to the mark in her assessment of the reason for his surprise. "Just one more mystery on a world full of them," he mumbled in response. Something else occurred to him, and he asked her, "How long did you say you'd been in Lylat, again?"

"A week or so. Probably a little longer than that now, but the past three or four days have been spent on this world."

"You're speaking fluent Lylatian to me now, but I think I heard you speak Saurian on the surface a few times. And neither of those are your native language, am I right?"

"That's correct," she replied. Then, feeling the need to elaborate a little more, she continued "Being a telepath has clear advantages in some regards, but I was also very good with languages anyway. There were literally _hundreds_ of different tribal dialects on Cerinia, and what might be a polite greeting in one could be a mortal insult in another, so those with my talents acted as translators between intertribal delegations. I've had lots of practice learning new languages."

"Still… becoming fluent in two new languages in the course of a week… And I have to get by with a mechanical assist for just one." Fox shook his head in amazement; with every hour he spent in her company, she seemed more and more talented. To tell the truth, he was a little intimidated by someone who could do so much on her own. He was prevented from following that somewhat depressing thought trail any further by their arrival at the Gateway. Up close, it resembled a singularity even more, except instead of the all-consuming darkness associated with black holes it emitted an intense light that was almost painful to look at without filters. He put the Arwing in a shallow dive then pointed the nose abruptly up when they were directly below the Gateway. It seemed to leap forward to swallow them and then suddenly…they were in space.

The area seemed to be mostly clear at first, but there was a trail of debris between them and their destination. Fox tensed up, remembering that the last time he'd flown though Saurian airspace, he'd been attacked by Venom fighter craft. In this environment, there were hundreds of places where a starfighter could wait in ambush. Fox tried to loosen up, but found that it was impossible. He was on the verge of cracking up when Krystal laid a hand softly on his shoulder.

"Patience," she whispered in his ear. "They will show their hand before they attack. Anticipate their actions, and we'll come through just fine."

Fox listened to her words, and they seemed to calm his nerves. He relaxed, and focused his attention on where an enemy might be hiding. A very large asteroid, drifting ahead directly in their path, seemed to be the best place for an ambush. And the best time to spring it, would be…

'_Now!'_ His subconscious mind screamed at him, and he pulled the trigger on his flight stick to send a barrage of laser beams flashing out into space. For a split second he thought he'd jumped at shadows, but then a flight of Venom fighters emerged from hiding and ran directly into the beams. Three of the five craft were destroyed immediately, and the other two were severely damaged, to the point where only a couple of follow-up shots were necessary to finish the job. The Arwing flew through the rapidly cooling debris and continued on towards its destination. Fox turned to thank Krystal for her words to him, but saw her mouth agape in shock.

"How…how did you know they were there?" she asked in bewilderment.

"I didn't," Fox replied. "But that seemed like the best place to set up an ambush, so, when the best time came to spring it, I just acted…on instinct." He checked the scopes, to make sure that there weren't any more enemies lurking along the way then continued talking. "That was one of the things my father always drilled into me; from the day I first told him I wanted to be a pilot like him, he would say to me over and over, 'Never give up, always trust your instincts'."

"Your father taught you very well, indeed," Krystal said. She pointed in the direction of a chunk of the planet that still had recognizable terrain features. "I think that's DarkIce Mines, there; I recognize it from one of the maps I bought. Head that way."

"Backseat pilot," Fox mumbled – but he grinned as he said it, and turned in the direction she indicated. There appeared to be another portal, like the one they had gone through above Snowhorn Wastes, so Fox approached it, and passed through without incident. They were finally over the first of the floating section of the planet. Down there, somewhere, was the SpellStone they needed to save a dying world.

Fox brought the Arwing around and surveyed the potential landing sites. It was a dismal prospect; the only possibility that was both level enough to accommodate the Arwing and far enough away from the Sharpclaw patrols to avoid their damaging the fighter… lay directly over a smoldering lava pit. Fox was very reluctant to trust the safety of their only way off this rock to a rock shelf of dubious integrity, but it was the only real choice he had. He brought the Arwing down and gently set it on the ground, easing the landing thrusters back so smoothly that not one of the passengers could feel the transition from powered flight to resting on the ground.

Fox popped the seal on the canopy and vaulted out of the cockpit. He turned to offer Krystal a hand in assistance, but saw that she was right behind him. He tapped a button on his PDA and the bomb shut opened, allowing Tricky to emerge from the darkness of his hiding place during their flight up to the floating section of the planet. The Earthwalker prince bounded out, glad to be away from the pitch-darkness of the bomb hold. He looked around and asked in disbelief, "Couldn't you have found a different place to bring your ship to rest?"

"Sorry," Fox said. "All the other parking spaces were full." At Tricky's blank look, he said, "Never mind, let's just get out of here before I stew in my own sweat. I brought these suits because I thought it would be _cold_ here." The group began to move carefully over the narrow ledges, mindful of the drop into boiling lava if they made even one misstep. Occasionally, gases escaping the lava spewed gobbets of molten rock up at them, forcing them to dodge the hot projectiles at inopportune moments. At one point near the end of the obstacle course, Krystal leaned a little too far to the side to dodge a hissing lava bomb and lost her balance; she began to teeter on the edge, arms windmilling in a desperate attempt to keep from toppling over into the abyss. Fox grabbed one hand and hauled her over onto the final ledge, where she panted for a moment at the prospect of what had almost happened.

"Thank you," she gasped out when she finally found her voice again.

"You're welcome," he replied. She looked down and noticed that he hadn't yet let go of her hand, and smiled slightly. Fox wondered what was so funny, until he looked down and saw why she was grinning. He let go in sudden embarrassment, and mumbled an apology, but his shyness only made her smile even more; she thought it was adorably cute. The three of them turned and surveyed the expanse of the area laid out before them; snow blanketed everything, covering the ground and structures with a thick carpet of white. A few Sharpclaws patrolled the area, but it was nothing that they wouldn't be able to handle if it came to a fight. More importantly, there were several Snowhorns scattered around the area, which would likely be more than willing to direct the party to the SpellStone, if they had clues as to where it was.

Fox and Krystal spread out to cover more ground in the area. Two patrolling Sharpclaw guards were just a little too oblivious to their surroundings, and paid the price for their inattentiveness, dealt by staff swings and concussions. After the sentries had been taken care of, Both Fox and Krystal began to search the area, looking for any devices that might prove useful, and quizzing the captive Snowhorns about the area. One of them was locked in leg irons, and couldn't move. The cold metal of the manacles had been tightened down far too much by the guards, restricting circulation and keeping her legs locked in one position for hours. She looked about ready to fall over, despite the restraints, but was still alert enough to notice the approach of the two foxes.

"Can you get me out of these, please?" she asked softly. "The key should be in one of the sheds."

Fox turned and eyed the buildings uncertainly. All of them had either a thick sheet of ice or a large mound of snow in front of them; simply getting in to search would be a massive chore. "We'll see if we can find it," he promised her, but in his mind, he wasn't sure if they would be able to get it, if it was inside the one blocked by ice.

He took a second look at one of the other sheds, which had a massive snowdrift piled in front of it. Maybe…it was certainly worth a look, and they wouldn't get anything done by just standing around here. Fox gave a two-toned whistle, his 'come here' signal to Tricky, which could be heard and understood far more clearly than words would. The Earthwalker came bounding over, and Fox asked him, "Hey Tricky, do you think you could dig through here?"

"Can I? Just watch me!" the dinosaur exclaimed, suiting actions to words by practically diving through the snow bank. Fox stooped over to check inside the tunnel, and rapped a fist on the ceiling to check its integrity. When he was satisfied, he got down on his hands and knees and crawled through the passage that Tricky had dug. The staff that he'd stowed inside his pack scraped the ceiling, sending a small trickle of snow down onto his head and under the collar of his suit. He gave an involuntary gasp at the sensation, and ducked his head a little more to avoid repeating the experience. He emerged from the tunnel to find himself facing two very angry Sharpclaw guards, and a gate with a reddish field around it blocking access to what lay beyond.

Fox had no time to admire or ponder the purpose of the field; both guards charged straight at him, forcing him on the defensive. Unlike the previous Sharpclaws he'd fought, these two came at him as a team, one swinging its mace at his head while the other went low, to try and cut his legs out from underneath him. Fox did a simultaneous jump-and-duck evasion, twisting his body around in the air in a manner he'd only previously seen in extreme action flicks. He landed in a crouch with both hands touching the ground; the guards, expecting an impact, had over-swung and were dangerously off-balance. Fox had his staff in one hand; he extended it and held it parallel to the ground, then leapt up, clotheslining both Sharpclaws across the chest and shoulders and dropping them to the ground. Neither of them was out of the fight yet, however; they surged back to their feet, intent on punishing this upstart mammal that had humiliated them. Fox had not been idle while they were on the ground, however; he had put some distance between himself and his assailants, and was able to aim the end of his staff at them and trigger its Fire Blaster. Two sizzling red energy bolts hissed out from the end of the staff and blew through the primitive armor that the Sharpclaws wore. Both dinosaurs dropped to the ground with smoke wisps rising from holes blasted into their chests; a second later, their bodies shimmered and dissolved in a seeming flash of light.

A creaking sound brought Fox's attention away from the location where his enemies had fallen back to the gate. The red field had disappeared and the gate was slowly inching its way up into the ceiling. He stared in puzzlement at the phenomenon, until Krystal's voice interrupted his thoughts; "Fox, are you alright?" He turned to see her beautiful face framed by the walls of the tunnel he had just crawled through, a look of concern on her features.

"Yeah I'm alright," he reassured her. "These guys were apparently a little smarter than the usual grunts." He offered her a hand in assistance as she got to her feet, and looked back towards the gate that had opened on its own. "That's just bizarre," he said. "The gate only started opening _after_ I killed the guards, and before that, it was closed and had a weird glimmering red field around it."

Krystal tapped her chin thoughtfully, before finally saying, "It sounds like a life-force barrier. It's a specialized form of seal that binds the energy field to the lives of whomever or whatever is assigned to protect it."

"So they're literally 'guarding it with their lives'," Fox said. He saw a small urn of some sort behind the gate, and moved to check it out. There was a port in one side that looked like it would serve as a lock; fox had no key that would fit it, but he experimentally probed the lock with the end of his staff, and felt it click into place a few seconds later. He grunted as he gave it a quarter turn, then suddenly he heard a 'snick' sound and the top of the urn fell away in six sections. Inside was a key, of roughly the same color as the irons that held the Snowhorn captive outside. Fox scooped it up and turned to leave, making sure he kept his head down low enough that he didn't dislodge any more snow. Krystal followed right behind him, making sure she left enough room that he wouldn't put his feet down on her hands while they were crawling.

Once they had both emerged into daylight once more, Fox made a beeline straight for the Snowhorn female who had been locked in the restraints. He carefully turned the key in each of the irons, letting her get her circulation back to normal in the process.

"Thank you for releasing me," the Snowhorn said to him. "Those irons were miserable."

"You're welcome," Fox replied. "I'm glad I was able to help."

"If you plan on going into the mines, then _please_, look out for the gatekeeper's daughter, Belina Te," the Snowhorn begged him. "She didn't mean to get us into this awful mess by telling Scales about the SpellStone. She was just trying to protect the tribe; she did what she thought was right."

"Alright, lady we'll keep an eye out for her," Fox reassured the anxious Snowhorn. "Do you have any ideas about where we should go from here?"

"There should be a bridge nearby that will lead you closer, if you can finds a way to extend it," she answered. The Snowhorn began pawing at the powder underneath her feet, until she uncovered a rather large cog wheel. She scooped it up with her trunk and offered it to Fox. "This might help you," she offered. "I found it while I was working. It looked important so I hid it from the guards; maybe it will help you with the bridge?"

"Hey, thanks!" Fox said. "I'm sure I'll find a use for it soon." It did seem to be the pattern on this world that the devices and objects he found had a use near where he found them, and they were usually necessary to progress further along in his mission. He hefted the cog in his hands, feeling its weight and being careful not to gouge his palms on the tips of the gear teeth. He started looking for a place where he could set the cog, but nothing within view came up as a likely candidate. He could see a continuation of the path on the other side of the gorge, but there was no bridge there to cross it.

"Fox, there's something over this way," Krystal called to him. Fox looked over to see her standing at the edge of a drop-off, pointing down towards something out of his own line of sight. He lugged the cog over to her position and took a peek over the edge. Below the cliff was a rapidly flowing stream of water that was probably ice-cold; not even their thermal suits would be able to keep them warm if they were soaking wet. Just above the water's surface, however, was a series of disconnected platforms that led over to what looked suspiciously like a set of gears, set below where the bridge ought to be. A waterfall blocked any chance of a clear view, but he thought he could see a gear missing from the set.

Krystal had already started down the steep bank, finding hand- and foot-holds in the rough rock surface. When she got to the bottom, she let go and moved away from the cliff, so Fox could drop the cog down and follow her. He scrambled down the rocks and hefted the cog in his arms again, following her closely. Short jumps across the gaps proved a bit more challenging when he was encumbered by the object in his arms, but not impossible. He got the cog over with only a little difficulty, and a near-slip into the icy waters that flowed beneath him, which he averted by titling his weight forward and toppling a bit unceremoniously onto the final ledge. He got up, dusted himself off, and pretended not to see Krystal hiding a smile behind one hand. Instead he turned to examine the workings of the bridge cogs; there was indeed one missing from the set. He set the cog onto the axle where the space was, and it seemed to fit perfectly, but nothing happened.

Krystal noticed a lever on the end of the bridge workings, and moved to pull it. She put all her weight on it but it refused to budge. "Fox, could you give me a hand, here?" she inquired. He grabbed the lever at a position a little lower on the handle than where she had, and on a three-count the two of them pulled down with all the force they could muster. This time their efforts were rewarded by a 'clank' and the creak of working machinery. They heard a grating sound above their heads and they both looked up in time to see the drawbridge extend out over the gap. It clicked into place on the far side of the gorge and was still. The way was now open for them to move forward.

Fox and Krystal scrambled back up the cliff face and made their way around to the bridge. Along the way, Fox gave a shouted, "Thanks!" to the Snowhorn who had given him the cog. She smiled and bowed in acknowledgement as they went by her. The two vulpines crossed the bridge and were following the path when Krystal abruptly stopped in her tracks. Somewhere, someone was in pain… She took off at full speed, leaving Fox standing dumbfounded in her wake, before he gathered the wit to follow her.

Krystal rounded the corner to see three Sharpclaws beating on a Snowhorn who had collapsed from exhaustion. He was trying his best to get to his feet, if only to get the guards to stop hitting him, but he quite simply did not have the energy to do so. If the guards didn't stop beating him, they would eventually kill him. Fury surged through her body; she hated torture and cruelty with a vehemence that exceeded any other dislike she had ever known. Krystal charged at the Sharpclaws with reckless abandon, not caring that she faced three-on-one odds; she'd dealt with eight times that many before, and emerged unscathed.

Fox rounded the corner just in time to see her light into the first guard with a fury that astounded him, and scared him a little, too. Krystal gave no warning, no battle cry to announce her presence; she simply introduced herself by slamming her staff down on the back of the first dinosaur's head with all her might. As he collapsed to the ground, she delivered another blow to his spine to ensure he didn't get back up for a while. His other two comrades stopped their abuse of the fallen Snowhorn and turned to confront this new threat. Krystal didn't give them any time to prepare further as she launched straight at the nearer guard. He blocked her first blow with his mace, but the force of that strike knocked it out of line and allowed her to pivot her staff around its center of mass and sweep it down low, smashing it across his legs and probably breaking a kneecap. He fell to the ground howling in pain, and Krystal turned to face the last guard. This one thought to take advantage of her apparent distraction and tried to bulldoze her with a head butt. Krystal was already aware of his intentions, however and sidestepped right as he would have hit her. She gave him a little extra momentum with a kick to his back, and he toppled face first into the snow. He struggled to get up in time, but rose only to see her coming down from a jump with her staff in an overhead swing. There was no time to dodge or to block; he took the hit squarely across his face and collapsed to the ground as though all the bones in his body had melted.

"Wow," Fox whispered as he came up on her right. She had dispatched all three guards only in the time it had taken him to catch up. "Remind me to _never_ make you angry."

"You'd only do it once," Krystal replied as she turned to him. Some of the anger she felt at the Snowhorn's treatment must have remained on her expression, because Fox took an involuntary step back and held his hands up in a placating gesture. Her expression softened a bit to reassure him, and she continued in a more subdued tone, "Hopefully you won't do it at all."

Any further conversation along that line was cut short by the stirring of the Snowhorn that Krystal had helped. "My deepest gratitude, miss," he replied hoarsely. "I am forever in your debt."

"No thanks are necessary," she replied. "I can't stand to see anyone being tormented or bullied."

"Still, I owe you my life," the Snowhorn told her. "I would love to help you, but…I'm completely exhausted."

"Yeah, we can tell," Tricky said as he came out from behind Fox.

"The Earthwalker prince is here, too?" the Snowhorn asked in surprise. He looked at Tricky with renewed interest. "Have you perfected that Flame Breath technique, yet?"

Both Fox and Krystal looked at Tricky in surprise, and the young dinosaur looked down at the ground in mild embarrassment. "Ah, no, not really," he replied.

"What exactly is this 'Flame Breath' technique, Tricky?" Fox asked him.

"Ah, well, certain dinosaurs have the ability to breath fire out of their mouths," Tricky said hesitantly. "But, my dad insisted I not try to practice unless he was there to supervise, and with him being captured and all… I haven't really had much practice at all, recently. I'm not sure if I can do it."

"I'm sure you can do it, Tricky," Krystal told him. "You just need to have faith in yourself."

"But, I..." Tricky started.

"Go on youngster, give it a go," the Snowhorn said encouragingly.

"You'll never know unless you try," Fox added.

"All right then," Tricky said. "But you guys stand back; I don't want to hurt you by accident." He waited while Fox and Krystal moved out of immediate reach, and took a deep breath. He remembered all the lessons his father had given him on this, focused his thoughts and exhaled…

And a plume of fire emerged from his mouth, melting the snow in front of him all the way down to the permafrosted soil.

"All right! Way to go, Tricky!" Fox cheered from behind him.

Krystal was a bit more controlled, but she applauded for him and said, "I knew you could do it Tricky!" The Earthwalker fairly glowed under their praise, pleasantly surprised at what he had managed to accomplish. He turned to them both with a big grin on his face, and bowed in acknowledgement of their praise.

Fox turned back to the weary Snowhorn and asked, "Do you know where we need to go from here to find the SpellStone?"

"The gates there block your path," the Snowhorn replied. His trunk curled around to point in the indicated direction and continued, "If I weren't so exhausted I could help you through. The Sharpclaws are long on beatings and abuse, and short on feeding their slaves. If I could get some food, I'd feel better, but here the Alpine Root only grows in sheltered areas." He lay his head back down after he said this, as if that little speech had sapped what remained of his strength.

"Sheltered, hmm?" Fox mused. "Krystal, weren't there a couple of places we couldn't get into before, because they were blocked by ice?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there were," she replied. "Now that Tricky can breathe fire, do you think he could get us past those barriers?"

"You betcha I can!" Tricky shouted exuberantly. "Just show me where they are!" He galloped back in the direction the party had previously come from, eager to find some Alpine Roots to help the tired Snowhorn. Fox and Krystal followed closely behind, anxious not to lose sight of Tricky. They hurried back towards the sheds near the beginning of the path, with Tricky eventually stopping at one that was blocked by a thick sheet of ice, which had previously kept them from seeing what was inside. At a wink and a nod from Fox, Tricky inhaled deeply and blew out a pillar of flame from his mouth that splashed against the ice wall in front of him. For a second nothing happened, but then the ice cracked under the strain of the drastic temperature change and the whole sheet fell away from the mouth of the shed.

Inside was a tunnel that ran back into a cliff; the shed was only a façade for a much larger complex. The floor inside was slippery with ice, and there was a small pile of sticks and logs near one side of the cave. Beneath the ice, Fox thought he could see the form of an Alpine Root, but how could he get it out? Tricky couldn't sustain his flame long enough to melt down to where the root was, and repeated bursts would likely sap his strength. Fox's eye returned to the pile of wood near the corner, and suddenly he got an idea. He piled the sticks just above the root, and then arranged the logs in a teepee fashion over them. He gave Tricky a whistle and the Earthwalker hurried over to see what Fox needed. He blew fire over the array of logs, and soon the whole set was burning merrily.

Several minutes past and nothing noticeable happened. Krystal joined the boys by the fire lay, grateful to be out of the cold and the wind outside. Fox stared at the flames for a little while, but soon found himself distracted by the shifting light patterns the dancing flames made on Krystal's face. She looked up when she became aware of his attentions, and gave him a small knowing smile. He blushed a little at this, which only made her smile even more in amusement, but didn't look away. Krystal found the reflection of light off his emerald-colored irises strangely entrancing, and felt her gaze lock into his. A lifetime's worth of communication seemed to pass between the two of them without a word being spoken, and the possibilities that it opened up seemed to be endless.

Any further exploration of this phenomenon was interrupted by a sharp 'crack' in the ice below them. Lines of fissure began snaking out around the ice, centered on the fire. The ice began breaking up, the fragments tilting at crazy angles under the weight of those standing on it. Fox jumped back to more solid ground, and pulled Krystal back with him before she could be tipped headlong into the icy water that lay just beneath the ice. Tricky had already gotten to solid ground, so he was out of danger as the water began to drain from the center of the cavern. After only a minute, the way was clear for Fox to retrieve the Alpine Root they needed for the Snowhorn. He picked it up a bit dubiously, but was more than a little surprised to see that the plant had survived being frozen and thawed without any noticeable damage. Maybe it had some sort of natural anti-freeze that it stored in its tissues – a useful adaptation for a plant that lived in sub-zero climates, to be sure.

"Looks like this one's okay," he said, stuffing it into his pack. "Let's go see if there are any other roots lying around out there." They exited the shed and took a quick look around. There didn't seem to be any more places they could access with Tricky's new technique here, so they continued along the path that led towards the gates.

Fox started to look around where the Snowhorn had fallen, but Krystal tugged on the sleeve of his snow suit and pointed in another direction. How about that way?" she asked. "That's the only way we haven't been yet, so that's the most likely place to find more Alpine Roots."

Fox looked in the direction she was pointing and balked at first. Massive boulders, easily the size of a Landmaster tank, rolled out of a chute on the far end and bounced along a small canyon that acted as a track to guide them to along. The boulders followed an irregular and unpredictable path, and it would only take one to squash any of the party into a bloody pulp. He was about to object when Krystal continued, "Look closer. There is a pattern to their movements." Fox took the time to study their motions a bit longer and realized she was right; the boulders all followed a similar path, deviating only slightly from it every few rocks or so. It would be possible to travel the path, but it would still be perilous.

Krystal didn't waste any more time on analysis, but forged ahead into the shallow canyon, dodging rocks as necessity dictated. Fox was a bit hesitant to follow, but realized that he would probably be of more help by following rather than staying behind and worrying. He plunged along after her, with Tricky at his heels, staying out of the path of the boulder whenever possible and crossing their path only after a rock had just rolled past when he had no other option. He and Tricky caught up with Krystal at the end of the track, where she had stopped in front of another ice sheet. It looked as though the sheet would let in sunlight, but kept the cold and the biting wind out; a perfect shelter that would act almost as a greenhouse. Fox waved Tricky forward, and got out of the way while the young dinosaur melted down the barrier hat blocked their access.

Inside there was another Alpine Root all right, rooted firmly in the soil. Fox gave Tricky a signal and the Earthwalker started digging away at the soil around the root. When he uncovered enough of the tuber's mass, Fox plucked it up and stowed it in the pack alongside the other one. The three of them turned to leave, making sure to time their exit so that no rocks would fall on their heads at an inconvenient moment. They moved along the track, Krystal several yard ahead of the other two. They were almost to the point where they had first entered the track when Fox felt a rumbled in the ground, coming up though his feet. He turned to see a boulder smash down just behind him and bounce just over his head. He turned and realized with horror that it was headed straight for Krystal.

"KRYSTAL, LOOK OUT!" he bellowed at the top of his voice. Krystal turned and saw the danger bearing down on her, but she and Fox both realized that it was going to roll right over her, and there was no time for her to get out of the way. Just before the boulder reached her position, it eclipsed her from Fox's view. He rushed forward, bracing himself for what he would find when he got there.

The boulder suddenly jerked to the side, as though it had run into a rock outcropping and bounced off. Fox was at a loss as to why, but then he saw Krystal, alive and whole, kneeling on the ground with her staff planted in the soil. A glowing force field encircled her, emanating from the cap on top of her staff and forming a dome of impenetrable defense around her. Once the boulder had rolled past, she pulled the staff up from the ground and the field disappeared. The three of them moved up the hill and out of the way of any more falling rocks before they allowed themselves time to think about what had happened. Krystal turned to see Fox staring at her with his mouth open, complete astounded.

"How…how…" he stammered.

"All staffs have the ability to project a nearly impenetrable defensive field around their wielders," she said in reply to the question he was trying to ask. "Yours can do the same thing." She thought about how close she had come to dying; if he hadn't shouted, she wouldn't have known she was in danger. She could detect the harmful intent of a foe waiting in ambush, and the latent malice inherent in a trap, but chance accidents were outside of her ability to readily perceive.

"I'm just glad you're alright," he told her. "I thought for sure you were going to die." He moved as if to embrace her, and then suddenly stopped, uncertain as to how it would be perceived. Krystal realized what he had in mind and completed the action, both because she was grateful for his concern, and because she found herself having a delayed attack of nerves at the close call she had just had. She leaned her head against his shoulder and let him support her while she recovered her poise.

After a few moments, Krystal's breathing and heart rate had returned to near-normal levels. She released her grip on Fox and stepped back a little, although she was more than a little surprised at the reluctance she felt about letting go and the disappointment she felt that it couldn't have lasted longer. She felt similar feelings coming from Fox, but he covered them with a shrug and a grin. "Well, we can't delay much longer," he said half-jokingly. "There's a very hungry Snowhorn waiting for us."

"Right." Krystal smiled and nodded in reply. "I'm sure he'd be eternally grateful for our help." The three of them hiked back up the hill and made their way over to where the fallen Snowhorn lay on the ground. Fox knelt beside him and pulled the first Alpine Root out of the backpack. He offered it to the Snowhorn, who picked it up with his trunk and crammed it into his mouth. Fox was taken aback by the Snowhorn's voracious appetite, but on the other hand, he _had_ been overworked and underfed. When he had finished the first root Fox offered him the other one. This one he took and chewed with a bit more care, taking the time to savor its taste before swallowing.

After a few minutes, the Snowhorn got to his feet. "Oh, I… I feel much better now!" he exclaimed. Fox and Krystal both exchanged glances, wondering just what was in those plants that made them such potent restoratives. Whatever the cause, they were certainly the best thing they had available. The Snowhorn took a few tentative steps to make sure of his balance then started for the gate. "Stay close behind me," he called to them. "I'll smash those gates wide open!" Fox, Krystal, and Tricky took cover behind him as he slammed the gates with his tusks. Once, twice, then three times he pummeled the barriers; the latch gave way on the fourth blow and the gates flew open, allowing them passage further into the area.

Fox took a quick look around at the new surroundings. A large, almost bunker-like structure stood in the center; all the doors leading into it were closed, and there didn't appear to be any way to open them, or break them down, for that matter. A few paths led away from the area, but one seemed to be locked with another one of those life-force barriers, one was blocked by a plug of ice, and one was obstructed by a large wooden barrier that had apparently been built for the express purpose of impeding their progress.

The group began moving in towards the bunker, when Krystal stopped abruptly, her spine tingling in warning. She looked around and spotted the source of the warning a split second before her danger sense blossomed into full-blown alarm. "Everybody, get back!" she shouted, just before a cannonball landed where they would have been if they'd kept walking. "Get out of range!" The group retreated back towards the entrance, but then Fox spotted an area that was sheltered by a spur of rock, out of the line of fire. They piled in behind it, the area cozy due to the addition of the Snowhorn, but still large enough to accommodate all of them without becoming claustrophobic.

Fox poked his head out to see where the shells had come from. He spotted a cannon mounted on a ledge at the far side of the clearing; that had to be the source of the fire. He pulled his head back before the Sharpclaw gunner could get any ideas about shooting it off, and turned to the rest of the party, "There's one gun up high on the far wall," he told them. "If we can get in close enough, it won't be able to hit us. I think that Tricky can melt the ice that blocks that one route, and we'll see if that will allow us to slip around behind it and put it out of commission." He focused on the Snowhorn and said, "I want you to stay here. You've done so much for us already; I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt here. Stay out of sight until the cannon's been neutralized." The Snowhorn nodded in acknowledgement, and Fox turned to the other two individuals. "You guys ready to go?"

"I'm ready," Krystal replied.

"Let's do it!" Tricky seconded.

"On the count of three," Fox said. "One… two… three!" The three of them broke from cover and made a mad dash for their destination, spreading out so that the cannoneer could only target one of them at a time. Tricky made straight for the hole blocked by ice, Fox ran to his left, while Krystal charged by on his right. Cannon shells rained down on their heads, yet somehow, they managed to avoid every single shot; Tricky was too fast for the gunner to track, while Fox and Krystal ran in zigzag patterns to throw off his aim. Tricky arrived at the ice barrier first and proceeded to melt it down. Fox and Krystal arrived a couple of seconds behind him, panting only slightly in the frigid air. Tricky had the blockage cleared in only a matter of seconds, allowing them to get through and out of the cannon's line of sight.

They saw another retracted bridge on the other side of the wall ahead of them, and a ladder that led up to a small cavern in the cliff. There was no way for Tricky to climb up with them, so he waited near the entrance and kept an eye on the bunker and the cannon emplacement. Fox saw another set of gears for the bridge, only this one was missing two cogs. He was willing to bet that they were guarded somewhere in this valley, but in order to do _anything_ down there, that cannon had to be taken out first.

Fox turned and saw Krystal set the end of her staff on the ground, aligned on a vertical plane. A pulse of light started at the top of her staff, then travelled down the shaft to the other tip, and released in a brilliant flash that propelled her all the way up to the top of the ledge. Fox thought for a second the distance would be too great, but the staff seemed to somehow know the proper amount of thrust to get its wielder up to where she need to go, without applying so much that it smashed her into the ceiling. He set his down in the same location, and pressed his thumb down on the glyph that would trigger the Rocket Booster. It pulsed in much the same manner that Krystal's did, and sent him shooting up to join her on the ledge above.

"There are a series of platforms that lead up to another cavern," Krystal told him. Evidently she hadn't been idle while waiting for him. "It will be a risky dash, though. We'll likely be under fire from that cannon while we make the trip."

"Let's stagger our runs," Fox suggested. "Far enough apart that he can't get us both with one shot, but close enough together that if he targets one of us, the other can get through unmolested."

"Hey, that's a good idea Fox," Krystal said. He cleared his throat nervously at her praise and shuffled his feet in slight embarrassment. "I'll go first," she continued.

"What?! Wait a minute…" Fox protested.

"I can anticipate his aim better, and dodge the shots," she told him. "He'll likely target the one who comes out first until they're out of reach, and then target the next one. The one we want him to focus on is the one he's least likely to hit, right?"

Fox didn't want to agree with her logic, but he had little choice about it. It wasn't that he thought she couldn't do it, it was just that he was used to taking the greatest risks himself, not putting them on other people, no matter how willing they were to take them. He suspected that the same was true of Krystal, however, and they would have to find a way to split the hazards evenly. "All right," he said, "I'll go when you reach the second platform."

She looked back at him in surprise. "I was half-expecting an argument."

"We don't really have time for one," Fox replied. "And much as it pains me to say it, you are absolutely right. Ready when you are."

Krystal giggled at his response, and poked her head out to memorize the layout of the platforms. She ducked back before the Sharpclaw gunner could notice her, then sprinted out and began the series of leaps and jumps that would carry her to the other side. The gunner noticed her movements and brought the cannon around to bear. Fox thought about taking aim at him with the Fire Blaster, but the bulk of the cannon blocked his shot. Krystal bounded across the first two platforms with blazing speed then hesitated to avoid a shell that would have shaken her off the third platform. Fox jumped out and began his run as well. Krystal hopped two more small platforms then ran across a plank that had been set between the fifth and sixth platforms, and she was clear. Fox saw that she was out of the line of fire and doubled his pace, knowing that the Sharpclaw would be swinging the gun around to target him next. He heard the 'thud' as it fired; scampered across the plank Krystal had just cleared, and threw himself into a leap that got him to the other cavern just as the shell hit the side of the cliff.

From there it was just a quick jog through the cavern to where the cannon was emplaced. After all the difficulty the weapon had given them, the fight with the operator was anticlimactic; he charged at Fox, who met his rush by smashing his staff up into the Sharpclaw's chin. The impact didn't drop the dinosaur to the ground, but it threw him off-balance enough that Krystal was able to focus a small amount of force into her staff and slam it into the Sharpclaw's side. The impact sent the dinosaur flying across the room to slam into the wall, where he slumped to the floor and lay there motionless.

Krystal wondered what they would do now, but then she saw Fox eyeing the cannon with a gleeful expression on his face. He took the controls in his hands and tested its handling and workings. Krystal grinned herself as she realized what Fox had in mind. He swung the cannon around to point at the barricade, and thumbed the firing button. The gun spat out a shell towards the wooden barrier, but it fell far short of its mark. Fox frowned and pressed the button again, this time holding it down a little longer. This shell was on target; it smashed into the barricade and exploded, demolishing it in a shower of splinters.

The noise must have attracted the attention of one of the guards in the bunker, because a door slid open and a Sharpclaw peered out, using a monocular spyglass to see who was operating the cannon. When he realized that it was not one of his comrades, he darted back into the bunker and sealed the door. That did him little good, however; Fox brought the cannon around to target the bunker. He fired a ranging shot to get a feel for the distance, then started raining shells down on the bunker roof. The relentless barrage took a heavy toll on the structure, caving in the near wall and blowing the roof off completely. The Sharpclaws that had been hiding inside scattered like ants after their nest had been kicked over, but Fox had no intention of letting them escape. He saw the Snowhorn move to block the entrance to keep the guards from escaping, so he was free to pound on them at will. He rained cannon fire down on their heads, taking a heavy toll on their numbers. Even a near-miss was enough to knock one out, and Fox's aim kept improving as he practiced. One tried to escape out the back way, but Krystal hemmed him in with a barrage of Fire Blaster shots, setting up an easy hit for the cannon.

Once the dust had settled, Fox realized that there were new areas open to explore. He dropped off the ledge down to the ground, rolling as he landed to bleed off the momentum of his fall. Krystal came after him; although being lighter, she could simply land by flexing her knees to absorb the shock of the impact. Fox investigated the area behind the barricade first, but as he poked his head around the corner he could see a driving blizzard on the other side of the wall. There didn't appear to be any profit in heading that way yet, not to mention any way to navigate the blizzard, so he turned back. As he was walking back toward the bunker he saw that the life-force barrier had dissipated, and that there was a container of some sort on the rubble of the bunker. Krystal was already moving to check what was behind the field, so he went to see what was inside the bunker.

It turned out to be another locked urn like the one that had held the shackle key for the leg irons. An experimental probe with his staff yielded a 'click' and the top fell away, revealing another bridge cog. This one seemed a little smaller than the one he'd carried earlier, which was no small blessing. He hefted it up in his arms and went to go look for Krystal, to see what she had found.

Krystal's find turned out to be another cog, similar in design and shape to the one he had found. The two of them headed back to where the workings of the bridge were, with Tricky following behind. He waited at the point where the bridge would come out, and the two foxes continued to the mechanism. Krystal scrambled up the ladder first, and then Fox passed the cogs up to her before climbing up himself. They carried the cogs over to the mechanism and slipped them into their proper places, then gave the lever a tug to start things moving. A grinding noise from outside told them that their efforts had been successful.

Fox and Krystal scrambled back down the ladder and hurried across the bridge. Tricky was already across, and pawing at the cliff face in what first appeared to be a dead end. As Fox got closer he realized that Tricky was picking at a point where snow had been packed into a small hole in the rock face. The Earthwalker prince began tunneling into the wall, eventually coming out inside a wide open cavern. The two foxes crawled in behind him and stood up to look around the room. Down the middle ran an apparently bottomless crevasse, inside which spun a vortex of pure ravening energy. Fox's eyes widened in shock at the sight, but Krystal grabbed his arm and pointed across the gap. "I think I can see something on the far side," she said.

"It won't do us any good if there's no way to cross," Fox said. He looked around in hopes of finding a clue, and saw a sign near the edge, upon which was engraved a message. "What's that sign say?"

"I can't read it," Krystal said. "It looks like it might be the written form of Saurian, but almost no one here writes anything, so I never learned it."

"It says, 'Across the leap of faith lies an ancient treasure'," Tricky read. Fox and Krystal turned to look at him in astonishment, and he shuffled nervously a bit. "What?" he asked. "One of the tasks of being a prince is learning how to read our language. Even if I can't write it, there are many written signs and such on this world; it's helpful to know what they say."

"A leap of faith, hmm?" Krystal mused. She turned to Fox and said, "I'm ready if you are."

"_What_?!" Fox protested. "Hold on, there's no way we could make it across!"

"Come on, Fox have a little faith," Krystal chided him gently. She took his hand and said, "We'll go together."

"Alright," Fox said. It had occurred to him that this test was set up precisely to discourage the timid. Knowing that didn't quell his unease with it in the slightest, but for some reason, he had every confidence this would work somehow. Krystal took risks, to be sure, but they were calculated ones, never things that would be impossible or foolish. He gripped her hand within his own, and said "We go on three. One…two…three!"

The two of them took a running leap out over the yawning abyss. Even before their feet left the ground, Fox knew that they would never make it all the way across with just one jump. They reached the peak of their leap, and started falling. Fox closed his eyes and braced himself… and found his feet contacting a solid surface, far sooner than he'd expected. He opened his eyes and thought at first that they were standing on thin air, but then a shimmer rippled out from their feet and spread across a defined path. A bright light flashed for a moment, then faded, and the path was now clearly defined by a glowing trail that stretched from one side of the abyss to the other. Fox and Krystal looked back to Tricky, who laughed at the surprise on both of their faces. Fox turned to Krystal and asked, "Did you know this would happen?"

"Not precisely," she replied, "but something along these lines, probably." She looked over to where the 'ancient treasure' sat on a pedestal, ready for them to claim. She walked over to it and picked it up. It appeared to be an elaborately built trumpet of some sort, with the end in the rough shape of a Snowhorn's head and trunk. What its purpose i_was/i_ was a mystery to her, but she had a hunch that it would allow them to call for aid in some manner. "Let's get back to that other path, the one through the blizzard," she said to Fox. "I think this will give us a way through."

They exited back through the hole they had come in through, and traced their steps back to where the remains of the bunker stood. Fox waved goodbye to the Snowhorn that had helped them through this area; there was no way for him to continue on with them any further. The party moved through the last doorway, and found themselves staring at a driving blizzard. Krystal in particular seemed tacked aback by the ferocity of the storm ahead of them.

"Never seen a blizzard before?" Fox asked her.

Krystal shook her head. "Cerinia, or at least the region of it that I called home, had a very mild climate, next to the eastern ocean. The water s there were so clean and beautiful…" Her voice trailed off as she realized she'd gotten way off topic. "Anyway, the short answer is that no, I have never seen a blizzard before. How are we supposed to get through it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Fox answered. "I have an idea though; give that horn a toot and let's see what happens."

Krystal put the mouthpiece of the horn to her lips and blew an experimental breath through it, to get a feel for its characteristics. Once she felt she had it down, she took a deep breath and sounded a deep blast on the horn. For a moment, nothing happened, but then she heard an answering trumpet, coming out of the blizzard. She strained her eyes and was shortly able to make out the silhouette of a Snowhorn trotting through the driving wind and snow towards their position. They ran out as far as they dared to meet him, and he came to a halt with a relieve sigh.

"Thank you so much!" he gasped. "If you hadn't blown the Trumpet and let me know where you were, I'd still be wandering lost in the blizzard."

"How long were you in there?" Tricky asked.

"I don't know for sure," the Snowhorn replied. "Too long, I'd say."

"Um…" Krystal began, "we need to get to the mines; do you know how we can get there?"

"Sure, young miss," the Snowhorn answered. "There's a clearly marked path that leads almost the rest of the way there. I just escaped from the mines, though, and tried to avoid it so the Sharpclaws wouldn't find me. Heh, I was almost too clever for my own good; if you hadn't helped me I would still be going in circles."

"Can you help us get there?" Fox asked him. "I don't think we can make our way through that wind, it's just too strong. If you're worried about the Sharpclaws, well, we can deal with them if there are any still out in that mess."

"Of course I'll help you, young 'un," the Snowhorn answered jovially. "If I can see the markers, I won't get lost. It was just because I wandered off the trail that I got lost in the first place." He moved over to a low platform and stopped next to it. "Get on my back," he said, "and I'll get all of you through this." Fox and Krystal climbed up the short ladder next to the platform and mounted the Snowhorn's back, while Tricky stayed close to the mammoth creature's legs. Once they were all in position, the Snowhorn began trudging off through the blizzard.

* * *

_Author's note: This chapter was originally going to be up to the point where they got on the jet bikes, but for some reason deviantArt didn't like it when it was over 10K words long, so I truncated this chapter a little, believe it or not. _


	13. Chapter 13

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chapter 13

"Sorry to make you go through all this again," Fox said to the Snowhorn. He was up front, with Krystal behind and huddled close to him. The biting wind rippled the fur on Fox's head like a field of grass in a windstorm, and blew Krystal's hair in every direction. Fox felt his nose go numb, and knew that if Krystal had lived in a balmy climate all her life, this had to be even worse for her than it was for him.

"It's no trouble at all," the Snowhorn replied. "You helped me find my way out, and I get the feeling that by helping you, I'll be helping the whole planet. That's why you want to go down into the mine, isn't it, to find the SpellStone? Scales hid it down there, and has it guarded by a fearsome creature. It won't be easy to get it back."

"Fox, are we almost there?" Krystal asked. Fox looked back and saw that despite the insulating properties of the snowsuit, she was shivering and her teeth were chattering as a side effect of the chill. He leaned back and put an arm around her shoulders, using his body to block some of the wind. It seemed that he was a bit more tolerant of the cold, but he still wanted to get out of this blizzard.

"Just a little further, Miss," the Snowhorn replied. They passed under a tunnel, and the wind slacked off considerably. The Snowhorn stopped at another platform, and the two foxes got off his back, both eager to be out of the bitterly cold weather. Fox took a look around and realized that something was wrong.

"Tricky?" he called. There was no reply, so he tried again; "TRICKY?!"

"I…I can't sense him anywhere nearby," Krystal said worriedly. "You don't think he…"

"Your friend will turn up," the Snowhorn assured them. "They usually do, in time."

Krystal wasn't willing to leave things at that, but she didn't think she could stand another moment in the blizzard. She closed her eyes and controlled her breathing, entering a meditative half-trace. In such a state, her normal sensory range increased greatly; nowhere near large enough to search an entire planet, of course, but thankfully she didn't have to search nearly so large an area as that. Only a short while afterwards, she found the trace she was looking for. "Fox, he's deeper in the mine. I think he's been captured."

Fox growled in annoyance at that news, but was also thankful that Tricky's whereabouts were known, and that the young dinosaur was (relatively) safe. He spotted another large gate blocking further passage, but also knew how to take care of it. "Hey big guy, could you, um…"

"No trouble at all," was the reply. The Snowhorn squared up to the gate and began pounding on it with his massive tusks. After only a few knocks, the barrier was broken down and the two foxes were able to progress further on. "Good luck," the Snowhorn wished them, as he turned and began retracing his path.

Krystal led the way in, senses alert for any form of trouble; which in this case came in the shape of a pair of Sharpclaws standing near a campfire, and another of the red glowing life-force barriers impeding further progress. There was one guard for each of them, so Fox and Krystal split up and engaged the guards one-on-one.

Krystal met her opponent with a quick feint of her staff at his unprotected ribs, followed by a deadly overhand strike as he tried to guard against a blow that did not fall where he thought it would. Her blow knocked him out cold and left him sprawled in a heap on the floor of the cavern. Fox dealt with his opponent in a more direct manner; putting enough force behind his first strike that it knocked the guard's mace out of his hands, which left him wide open for a smashing horizontal swing that connected with the guard's left cheek and sent him whirling around to join his comrade in a heap on the floor. With the defeat of these two, the barrier dissipated and allowed Fox to see what lay behind it: another jet bike, still polished and gleaming.

"Looks like we're taking a little ride," he said as he checked out the systems on this vehicle. Everything seemed to be in order. He turned and saw Krystal looking dubiously at the jet bike, doubt showing in her expression. "Don't worry," he said, "I know how to drive this. Just hold on to me and we'll be fine." She nodded in reply, although privately she still had her doubts. Fox got on the bike and started the engine, and Krystal got on behind him and wrapped both arms around hi middle, between his chest and his stomach. Fox revved the throttle experimentally then released the parking brake, and the bike took off, zooming down the narrow passageway until the walls were a blur, leading them deeper in to DarkIce Mines.

They burst out of the tunnel and began speeding along a narrow valley that, to Krystal's eye, looked very familiar. She turned and saw the hill they had come down when they were looking for the Alpine Roots, and the place where she'd almost been run over by a runaway boulder. With the wind whistling in her ears, it was a while before she registered the rumble of an approaching stone; she craned her head back and saw another boulder bearing down on their position.

Alarm jolted through her and she put her mouth right next to Fox's ear. "Must go faster!" she shouted, to be heard over the wind of their passage. Fox risked a glance back to see for himself then turned his head back to the route ahead and cranked the throttle up higher. He couldn't reply to her, since the wind of their passage would have blown his words right back down his throat, but Krystal did hear a silent acknowledgement and thanks in his thoughts. The walls of the canyon raced by in a blur, and Krystal actually found herself enjoying the sensation of speed, despite the situation. Fox's eyes were squinted against the wind, so she was the first one to see the gap that appeared in their path. "Umm, Fox?" she queried.

"I see it," he replied tersely through clenched teeth. "Hold on tight." He hunkered down a bit to present less of a cross-section to the wind, and raced towards the gap at breakneck speed. Krystal was certain they were going to crash, but at the last instant Fox revved the throttle up as high as it would go and shifted his weight back to bring the nose of the jet bike up right as they passed over the gap. The vehicle soared over the gap and came down safely on the other side, and as Krystal turned back to check behind them, the boulder reached the crevice they had just vaulted and fell into the abyss.

The walls of the tunnel raced by them, and Fox cut the bike's speed back to reduce their chances of crashing in the narrow corridor. The only illumination there was provided by a series of torches, spaced evenly every hundred feet or so on the walls, and a torch whipped by every second or so. The pathway twisted and turned, but always it sloped down, sometimes only slightly, and sometimes a bit more steeply.

Gradually, a new sound permeated the air; the sound of heavy machinery clanging, and boulders rolling along tracks that guided them to who-knew-where. The air also seemed to be getting warmer, to the point where the cold-weather suits the two vulpines wore were becoming too warm for comfort. Suddenly the bike left the tunnel and came out on a raised platform that hugged the wall of a massive cavern, filled with machinery along one wall, and open to a smoldering lava pit along the other. Fox risked a glimpse down into the main area, then brought his gaze back to his line of travel and saw that the walkway took a hard right turn just ahead. He tried to swing the bike's tail end around to drift around the corner, like he did when he was a teenager street racing in Corneria City, but ran out of room before he was even a quarter of the way through the turn. The jet bike's nose slammed into the raised barrier that was supposed to keep vehicles from going over the edge and stopped cold; the rear of the vehicle kept moving, arcing up and catapulting both riders out of their seats and onto the conveyor belt below the walkway.

Fox landed near the wall; Krystal a little further ahead, somersaulting along the belt to help bleed off the momentum of her fall. As she came back to her feet, she saw a line of exhaust vents lining the wall along the side of the conveyor, and even as she watched, two of them belched flames across their line of travel. Behind her, Fox looked horrified at the obstacle course that was set before them, but she called to him, "Do as I do!" and knelt down to allow the shield in her staff to cover her in an impenetrable defensive field. Fox felt a little apprehensive about trusting his safety to an unknown device, but realized that there was little other option left to him. He knelt in a similar position to Krystal, and the barrier spun out from the cap of his staff and spiraled down to shield him as the conveyor belt carried the two of them along. Flames spread across his vision, swirling around the shield but not getting through, and soon he saw a gap in the wall where he and Krystal could get off this ride and catch their breaths. She dove through as soon as she was in line with the hole, and he followed as soon as he was able. Once they were out, they took a moment to brush the dust off and take stock of the situation.

"That's the second time I've crashed one of those things," Fox groused to himself.

"_Second_?" Krystal queried. "Out of how many?"

"Um…two," he replied, more than a little sheepishly.

Krystal looked at him more than a little disbelievingly. "I thought you said you knew how to drive it!" He held up his hands and ducked his head a little defensively, but didn't say anything in reply; maybe there wasn't much he _could_ say.

Krystal looked as though she wanted to say more, but thought better of it afterwards. She looked around the cavern that they were in, and realized that the temperature here was much higher than it had been on the surface; their snowsuits were not needed here, and could in fact impair their mobility at an inconvenient time. "Let's take these suits off; we don't really need them down here," she suggested. "We can set them in an out-of-the-way corner, where no one will be likely to find them, and pick them back up on our way out." The idea sounded good to Fox as well, so they shed the heavy thermal suits and piled them near a ramp that spiraled down from the walkway they had come off of. This left Krystal in her loincloth and Fox's vest, and Fox in his olive-drab sleeveless flight suit. The two of them began searching through the cavern, looking for anything that could be useful or that could give them a clue as to where to go next.

Fox cocked an ear as he heard a familiar voice echo through the cavern; "Hello? Is anybody there?" He grinned suddenly as he realized who was calling, and that at least their immediate course of action had become clear.

"Hey, Krystal? I think we just found our missing prince." It was difficult to tell in the echoing confines of the cavern, but Fox thought he could determine where Tricky's voice was coming from. The sticking point was that the path across was a series of platforms that stood above a smoldering lava pit. As if that weren't trouble enough, each platform had a set of flame jet that rotated around the central support, expelling fire all the while; and whether by accident or design, they were at about chest height above the platforms. In order to get to where Tricky was being held, the two foxes would have to leap between the platforms, timing their jumps so that they didn't run into the flames or get knocked into the lava below.

"I'm ready if you are," Krystal's voice broke into his thoughts. "But I think we ought to go one at a time, just in case."

"You're probably right," Fox assented. "Here I go…" The moment the flame jet passed by his position, Fox leapt onto the platform and began running along its edge. There were no guardrails or anything for safety; if he fell, he would plummet headfirst into the lava. He made it around the first platform and jumped to the second; hit the deck as the flame jet rotated above his head then got up and continued on, and made it to the third platform. The jet here spun in the opposite direction than the other two, but he still had to follow the same path; a chunk of the floor was missing along the path that followed the direction of the jet's rotation. Thinking fast, Fox dropped to his belly and commando-crawled the entire way around the platform, with fire spouting uncomfortably close over his head, and the grating below him almost burning his hands. However, it didn't slow him down, and soon enough, he was on the other side. He looked back to see Krystal already following his path; she was already on the third platform, wincing at the feel of hot metal on her palms but forging gamely ahead regardless. 

As soon as she was out of reach of the jet, she stood back up and blew on her hands to help cool them down faster.

Tricky's voice was definitely louder now, and clearer, and Fox and Krystal were now able to follow it back to its source. They found the Earthwalker prince behind a set of iron bars that were too thick for any present to bend. Tricky perked up when he heard noises outside his cell, and bounded over to the two foxes when he saw them. "Krystal!" he exclaimed delightedly when he saw her. "And Fox! I lost you guys in the blizzard and then some Sharpclaws found me and threw me in this stinky cell. Can you help me get out of here?"

"The door's locked," Fox said. "We'll need a key for it; do you know where it might be?"

"One of the guards just walked off with it," Tricky replied promptly. "I think he was putting it back after checking on a Snowhorn in the next cell over." The prince frowned as he thought. "I've been trying to talk to her, but she's not answering; she's not even moving. I hope she's alright."

Fox looked over to the cell beside Tricky's and saw the Snowhorn that the Earthwalker had mentioned. She was just lying there, not responding to anything, even when Fox and Krystal tried to call out to her. Fox shrugged and said, "We'll worry about it later, I guess. Our first order of business is to get you out of there." He and Krystal moved off in the direction Tricky had indicated the guard with the key had gone in. They made their way past some more heavy machinery, until they found a heavy metal door that blocked their path.

"Um…now what?" Krystal asked.

Fox spotted a hole in the wall near them, and moved to take a closer look at it. "Hey, I think this will lead us around the door," he told her. He poked his head through and was about to enter when he heard a rumbling noise. He froze as he recognized the sound, and saw another one of the titanic boulders roll past along the track that the gap opened up on. "There's just one little problem…"

"Isn't there always?" Krystal said dryly from behind him. He moved the rest of the way through to clear her path, but kept in a corner to avoid venturing out into the path of the stones again. Krystal crawled through the short tunnel and emerged beside him, and together they studied the path of the rolling boulders as they passed by. "I think they're all following the same path," Krystal observed. "Since they aren't bouncing, it should be an easy task to stay out of their way."

"Seems like it's always one thing after another here," Fox grumbled. "All right, here we go again." They waited until just after a boulder rolled past, and then dashed out into the track. From there it was a matter of following the track, pacing themselves so that they were a safe distance behind the rock they were following, but not so far behind that they were in danger of being squished by the next one in line. Eventually, they came to an annex that branched off from the main track, and were quick to take it, eager to get out of the way of the massive rolling boulders.

There were a few large crates scattered around, and at the far end, one of the metallic hexagonal containers that Fox had quickly learned _always_ contained some sort of treasure. It was the work of only a few seconds to jimmy the lock with the end of his staff, and open the container. Inside laid a silvery key; Fox took it and examined it carefully. "Do you think this is the key we need?" he asked Krystal.

"Probably," she affirmed, "although we won't know for sure until we get back to the cell and try it." The two of them looked back at the way they would have to travel, neither particularly happy about the thought of dodging all the boulders that would be coming at them. "Let's see if we can find that door," Krystal suggested.

"No argument from me," Fox said. "I've had enough of rolling boulders for a _decade_." They waited until a stone had just gone by and dashed across the pathway then bolted across to the safe side of the track. From there, Krystal was able to get up on the raised edge that kept the boulders from running off the track and into the lava below, and scan the area for any more side paths like the one where they had found the key. She saw a likely prospect that led back in the direction of the door that had been locked on the side they had been on before, and pointed it out to Fox; "Try that one". She hopped down from the ledge and the two of them waited for a clear path before jogging briskly to the indicated walkway.

The door was indeed there, locked by a wheel that took the combined efforts of both of them to turn, Fox pulling down while Krystal pushed up. They eventually got the wheel turned enough that the lock disengaged and allowed them through to the other side. From there it was simply a short walk back to Tricky's cell to test the key. Krystal inserted the key into the silver-plated lock, and the bars keeping the Earthwalker prince confined slid down into the floor, allowing him to bound out of his cell and greet his vulpine friends.

"Ah, it's so good to be out of that smelly cage!" Tricky exulted. He turned and saw that the Snowhorn was still locked in the other cell, and asked, "What about her?"

"Hold on, let me try it," Krystal said. She tried to slide the key into the lock, which was plated with golden metal, but it got stuck halfway in. "No good, looks like we'll need a different key," she observed.

"Hmm…" Fox mused. "The silver key went to the silver lock, so perhaps we need a gold key for the gold lock?"

"That's a possibility," Krystal agreed. "But, where do we find it?"

"Hey, I don't know if it matters, but when the Sharpclaws were dragging me in, I saw a wall near the entrance that looked like I could melt it down," Tricky spoke up. "Maybe there's something behind it?"

"Could be," Fox assented. "Let's check it out." The reunited trio headed back in the direction Tricky had indicated, until Krystal realized it would take them back across the platforms with the flame jets; an experience she had no desire to repeat if she could help it.

Fox apparently shared her sentiment. "Why don't we see if there's another way around these things? I think I can see a way over there." A part of the walkway they were currently standing on led around the series of platforms they would otherwise have had to use to cross the lava pool. From the end of the walkway it was just a short hop down onto the rocky surface of the cavern floor and they were able to reach the wall that Tricky had described. It was located near the place where Fox and Krystal had bailed off of the conveyor belt, and blocked by a mixture of ice and rubble. Apparently, the Sharpclaws had tried to dig a storage area, but being the less-than-stellar engineers that they were, the cavern ceiling had partially collapsed; allowing frigid air from the surface to mix with the somewhat more humid air from the caverns, and create a plug that blocked access to whatever had been stored in there.

Tricky squared up to the blockage and took a deep breath. To Fox's eye, it almost reminded him of one time w hen Falco had been a little less than sober, and was gearing up to let out a thunderous belch, but he decided to keep that particular observation to himself. Tricky opened up with a long burst of flame, and ice began to melt away from the blockage in steaming rivulets, carrying debris along with it when enough of the stones' surfaces were revealed. There was too much there for Tricky to clear in one burst, so he took a deep breath and tried again. This time the ice and rocks cascaded away even faster, with some of the ice being weakened by exposure to Tricky's previous incandescent exhalation.

After the second lick of flame, Tricky tried to inhale for a third breath, but broke down in a fit of coughing. He looked up at the two foxes apologetically, and said, "Sorry guys, that's the best I can do."

Krystal gave him a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, Tricky, we can handle it form here." She hefted her staff and began to use the sharp end as an icepack, chipping away at what remained of the plug, breaking chunks out of the barrier that had already been weakened by Tricky's exertions. Fox saw what she was doing and joined in, the two of them making quick work of the obstacle in a short time. Once they had made a hole large enough to allow them through, Fox stepped into the cavern and took a look around. The temperature difference was intense; he'd stepped from a lava cavern into an ice cavern, and was not dressed for the ice cavern. Fortunately, his target was very easy to find; it was another of the hexagonal chests that he could pick with the point of his staff. A short stab and twist later and he had the container open and the treasure out; it was a key like the one that had released Tricky, except golden instead of silvery.

"You think this is the one?" Fox asked as he turned to Krystal.

"I think so," she replied, "but we won't know for sure until we try it." She back up a little to allow him room to get out of the cavern, and then the three of them began to retrace their steps back to where the prison cells were. Unfortunately, that meant that they had to negotiate the platforms again. Fox looked doubly forlorn at this prospect, but there was no way they could go back the way they had come; the roof of the cavern was too close to the walkway, if they tried to use the boosters on their staffs, it could easily slam them into the ceiling.

Tricky had no trouble making his way across the platforms; he was low enough to the ground that the flame jets passed comfortably over his head, and he could take his time on the jumps, waiting until it was clear overhead before he leapt from one platform to the next. Fox and Krystal had done this before, so they knew what to do, but they still had a few hair-raising moments and near-misses. Once the last person – Fox – was over, he brushed dust from his flight suit and declared, "I hope we never have to do that again."

"No arguments here," Krystal agreed. "Let's see if that key works." They made their way to the other cell, and Krystal tried the new key in the gold-plated lock. This time it turned easily; she felt a 'click', and the bars slid to the side, clearing the way for the party to approach the cell's lone occupant.

She didn't move at the sound of her prison door opening, so Fox moved around to where she was facing. "Hi, there."

She stared in surprise and her eyes widened as she saw him and she asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Fox McCloud," he answered, "and this is Krystal, and this is Prince Tricky of the Earthwalkers. We're here at the request of the Snowhorn gatekeeper to find the SpellStone for this land."

"My name is Belina Te; the gatekeeper is my father," she said, the first glimmers of hope beginning to show in her eyes. "Did he send you to look for me as well?"

"I'm…sorry, Belina," Fox said apologetically. "He feels you have dishonored the wishes of the gatekeepers. We were only sent to retrieve the SpellStone."

"We didn't know you'd be up here…" Tricky said hesitantly.

"The old fool!" Belina growled in sudden anger. Krystal looked particularly alarmed, and grabbed hold of Fox's hand. "Don't you see? I _had_ to do it, to save the tribe! If we had resisted, Scales would have wiped us all out!" She began backing up, head lowered as she concluded, "If it wasn't for my father being a gatekeeper, none of this would have happened in the first place!" She let out a thunderous bellow, and charged towards the two foxes. Krystal gave Fox a mighty shove and propelled both herself and him out of Belina's way. The angry Snowhorn female plowed into the back wall of her cell, and Fox expected that she'd rebound off it with a monstrous headache; but instead she plowed straight through a comparatively thin sheet of rock and continued on through a tunnel behind the cell. After Belina had gone a fair ways in, the ceiling collapsed down behind her, cutting her off from the two foxes and one Earthwalker that had freed her from her prison.

Once the dust had settled, Krystal crept out from her hiding place and called out, "Belina? Are you still there?"

"Listen carefully," Belina's voice came echoing back, attenuated by the pile of rubble blocking the way. "Find your way to the bottom of the mine; I'll meet you there." She began moving off, the 'thump, thump,' of her footfalls rapidly dwindling into silence.

"Well," Fox said to no one in particular, "that was exciting."

Krystal gave him a long sideways look before finally saying, "There's much more to her reaction than you seem to consider." To be honest, she felt sorry for Belina. She looked back towards the rock pile once before asking, "How do you think we'll get to the bottom of the mine?"

Fox was about to say he didn't know, but then Tricky exclaimed, "Hey you guys, there's a way through here!" The two foxes turned to see what he was referring to, and noticed a small crawlspace that had been revealed due to Belina's rage-driven charge. It was just high enough for the foxes to get through if they lay on their bellies and squirmed though like serpents. Fox went first, and then Krystal followed once he had come out on the other side; she had a somewhat easier time that Fox did, being both more agile and a bit more slender. Tricky came through last then the three of them started down the passageway that led deeper into the DarkIce Mines.

As they were making their way through the narrow passageways, Fox thought to ask, "Krystal, what did you mean when you said there was more to Belina's reaction than I was considering?"

The blue vixen was silent for a moment, putting the impressions she had gotten from the young female Snowhorn into some semblance of coherent order. Finally, she said, "Belina feels guilty about getting her tribe into this mess, and about giving up the SpellStone to Scales. At the same time, though, she feels resentful that she is taking the blame for an essentially unwinnable battle. When you told her that her father hadn't sent us to rescue her, she felt like he had abandoned her because of her decision."

"Wow," Fox said. "She's got a lot to work through." He thought for a moment, and then said, "Once we get to the end of this road, I think we should take the time to talk to her, let her know she hasn't been abandoned. Assuming she's calmed down enough to listen, of course."

Krystal nodded, as Fox seemed to be seeing her point. "Yes, we should do that once we find her…uh-oh," Krystal interrupted her train of thought and raised a hand as a warning signal. Up ahead…"There are some Sharpclaws around the next bend; three of them, I think. We'll have to take them out before we can get any farther."

Fox pulled out his staff and extended the silvery pole to it full length. "Let's go then," he said, warming up for combat. "Do you know where they're positioned?"

"I can't really tell for sure, but I think they're all in one group." Krystal drew her own blue and gold weapon, and readied herself for battle. The two of them charged into the room, catching the waiting guards by surprise. Fox went after the one on the left, dodging the Sharpclaw's clumsy first swing and bringing his staff down hard on the dinosaur's shoulder. The impact staggered the Sharpclaw but did not drop him, so Fox reversed his swing and slammed the blunt cap of the staff into his enemy's head from the other side. The Sharpclaw dropped like a ton of bricks, and Fox turned to deal with the next threat.

Krystal's opponent tried to get the first hit on her before she could respond. It was a patently futile endeavor, as she could tell what he was going to do before he did it, and was more than nimble enough to avoid any attack a rank-and-file Sharpclaw grunt could manage. She simply stepped to the side and let him over-swing; his mace impacted the stone floor with a 'thunk', sending a buzz of feedback up into his arm and leaving him open for a devastating counterstrike across his face that sent him reeling to the floor, spitting out tooth fragments. That left the third and final guard, and both foxes were ready for a fight, but there was no need for it.

The third Sharpclaw had gone after Tricky, assuming that the Earthwalker prince would be no challenge at all. He got the surprise of his life when, instead of fleeing or cowering in fear, Tricky stood his ground and let loose a long plume of exhaled flame. The fires didn't catch on the Sharpclaw, but they served as a wondrous distraction, causing the soldier to leap back and run in panic before slamming into the wall of the cavern and knocking himself unconscious. Tricky huffed a short, angry snort before saying, "Stuff _me _in a dark, smelly prison cell, will you?" That irate comment drew chuckles from both of his companions, and the trio headed further into the mines.

The tunnels were all monotonously boring, carved shafts of rock that sloped ever downward, bolstered by supports that kept the innumerable megatons of stone above from collapsing down on their heads. Sometimes the floor sloped at a gentle angle, sometimes it sloped at a much steeper one, but always it led down, curving to the right and giving Fox the impression that the path was spiraling down into the depths of the planet – or at least as far down as this particular stray piece went. After a little while, though, he could see the dull red glow of magma again, and a room that the path opened up onto ahead. He could also see a brownish figure emerge from another tunnel ahead, and hoped to whatever deities might be listening that she was willing to listen now. "Belina!" he called out, not wanting to startle her by sneaking up behind her.

"You made it!" she said, and Krystal could sense the relief coming off the Snowhorn female. Belina looked down at the ground for a moment, and then back up at them with contrition in her eyes. "Listen, about what happened earlier… I'm sorry for how I reacted."

"We forgive you," Krystal said.

"I can't imagine everything you're feeling right now," Fox said, "but there was one thing I forgot to mention. Your dad didn't send us here to look for you specifically, but he did ask us to keep an eye out for you, and to help you if we found you."

Belina's ears flapped once in surprise before she said, "He did? Really?"

"Yes," Krystal affirmed. "He still loves you, and he's worried about you."

"I…" Belina's voice faltered and she closed her eyes in relief as a tear formed at the corner of each. "Fox…Krystal…thank you." Krystal patted the Snowhorn's trunk encouragingly, as far up as she could reach. Fox felt more than a little uncomfortable with all the open emotionality, but he was glad 

that Belina felt better knowing that she still had hope for her future. He was anxious to get on with their mission, yet he was also reluctant to ruin the moment.

Belina solved his dilemma by turning her attention to the task at hand. "Well, before we can get back to the surface, we need to find the SpellStone. It's hidden down on this level, the very bottom of the mines, and Scales has it guarded by a terrible creature called the Galdon."

"What's a Galdon?" Krystal asked.

"I haven't seen it myself, nor do I know anyone who has," Belina answered. All I know is rumor, which says that it's enormous, ugly, and very fierce."

Krystal exchanged a worried glance with Fox and Tricky. Anything a Snowhorn called "enormous" would be a difficult foe indeed. Fox tried to cheer them up by saying, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Everything has a weakness; we just need to learn what it is."

"And before we do that," Krystal said, "we have to find it." She turned to Belina and asked, "Do you know where it might be?"

"Not precisely," Belina replied, "but I do know that it has to be in that direction." She curled her trunk around to point towards a small cavern on the other side of a small lava moat. "But getting there will be no easy task."

"I don't suppose you could, um, toss us over?" Fox asked.

"Not with any chance of success I'd be comfortable with," Belina replied. "There has to be a way to bridge the lava."

"Let's look around," Tricky suggested. The rest of them agreed, and split up to scour the lower floor. Krystal went with Belina, and Fox stayed with Tricky. A thorough search of the ground floor revealed little asides from a few Sharpclaw grunts on guard duty, which the foxes dispatched with ease as they encountered them. When they were finished, they met back up and compared notes.

"I got nothing," Fox said.

"I didn't find anything either," Krystal said in reply. "Perhaps we need to search the upper levels?" Fox grimaced as he turned examine the only way up to the higher levels: a ladder that led up to a spiral ramp, down which a steady stream of barrels bounced and rolled their way. The barrels looked heavy enough that it would hurt to get hit by one. For a brief moment, he wondered what they were intended for; it seemed that the walkway had been broken off a short ways after the point where the ladder was, and the barrels rolled off the platform and into a pool of lava that lay below the end of the ramp. Then he dismissed the idea as irrelevant; there was no time for sightseeing, they had much more immediate concerns they had to focus on.

"If there's only one way up, we'll just have to make the best of it," Fox said with a long-suffering sigh as he began to climb the ladder. Krystal giggled a bit at his reaction, although she 

understood how he felt. She followed him up the ladder, leaving Tricky and Belina, with no way of ascending the ladder themselves, waiting on the ground. Once on top, they took a look around the cavern again, searching for anything they might have missed before. There was a fuel barrel, of all things, left on the platform where they were standing, although they had little idea what they would need to blow up with it. Krystal nudged Fox with her elbow and pointed at a stalagmite rearing out of the ground. "Maybe if we blasted that, it could make a bridge?" she asked.

"Perhaps," Fox said. "But blast it with what? I don't think we could get this barrel over there, could we?"

"No, but maybe there's something up there we could use it on?" Krystal suggested.

"Great, so either we lug this thing around on the off-chance we find something to blow up, or we have to backtrack to get it if we do," Fox grumbled. Krystal opened her mouth to scold him for his attitude, but then he hefted the fuel barrel up onto this shoulder and said, "Lead the way." Krystal shook her head and smiled at his behavior, and began to pick her way around the barrels that rolled along the ramp. There was a rim along the outer edge of the ramp that prevented the barrels from rolling off the side, so there was no break in the pattern as they made their way down.

The barrels came constantly, but they always followed the same path, and there was enough of a gap between them that even Fox, burdened as he was by the makeshift bomb on his shoulder, could dash between them when he needed to get to the other side of the ramp. Krystal was a bit worried about him; if he dropped the barrel, they wouldn't be much longer for this world, but Fox seemed to be holding up just fine. They made their way up the ramp, to the very top where the barrels issued out of a large, clanking machine, and got off on a walkway.

"Now where to?" Fox asked.

"Well, that way is blocked," Krystal said, across the ramp to where a drawbridge of sorts was currently up, "so the only way available is this way." She pointed along the path they had already started travelling. She led the way, picking out the best course around the obstacles, with Fox following behind as best he could. This far up, all the platforms in the middle of the room were built around the massive stone columns that acted as supports for the roof. Krystal made her way around to the end of the path, and stopped when she realized that there was no way Fox could go further with the barrel on his shoulder.

"Looks like a dead end," he commented.

"Perhaps not yet," she said. "There's a ladder to the upper level, maybe we can find a way to get the barrel up there." Fox put the barrel down to give his shoulders a rest, while Krystal scrambled up the ladder to find any sort of mechanism for bringing the barrel to the upper levels. A quick search revealed a switch, which she promptly triggered with her staff and sent a hovering magnetic hoist down to the lower level and back up again. Krystal grinned and leaned over the rail to call down; "Fox! Put the barrel down underneath the hoist!" He saw what she was talking about, and slid the barrel 

underneath the robot to let the powerful electromagnet grab hold of the barrel and bring it to the top. He hurried up the ladder while this was going on, and joined Krystal on the upper level in time to see the magnetic hoist drop the barrel down on the walkway. Fox hefted the barrel back up onto his shoulder again, and the two of them set off.

This time the path was made more perilous by the presence of flame jets that switched on and off at random intervals, and by a Sharpclaw manning a cannon emplacement higher up. While the cannon's presence gave Fox an idea about how to topple the stalagmite in question, the issue now became, how did one get up to it? A drawbridge led to where the cannon was, but it was currently up and the cannon was inaccessible at the moment. Fox hoped that he was lugging this fuel barrel around for a reason, but it was becoming heavier and heavier all the time.

Krystal tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the end of the walkway. "There appears to be a cave-in there," she said. A pile of rubble blocked the walkway from that point on, cutting off access to whatever lay behind the debris. "Do you think it's worth a try?" she asked.

"Eh, hate to think I lugged this thing all the way up her for nothing," Fox said casually. He heaved the barrel at the rubble and scampered back as quick as he could. The barrel exploded in a bright flash and a thunderous explosion that was magnified by the echo chamber-like qualities of the cavern. When the dust had settled, Fox looked up and saw an alcove that the debris had previously blocked; at the far wall was another switch, of the kind that required the staff be used as a lever. It was the work of only a second or two to trigger it and he heard the grinding of machinery behind the panel as he activated it, and wondered what had been activated.

"That other drawbridge is down, now," Krystal said from behind him. Fox carefully leaned over the edge of the platform to look at where she was pointing, and sure enough, the first drawbridge they had passed was now down, granting access to whatever lay behind it.

He sighed theatrically. "Great, now we have to run _all_ the way back down there to see what lies beyond." Krystal giggled a little at his acerbic remark, since she felt similarly about having to run all the way back down to get to where they needed to go, but there was no shorter way to go; or at least, none that didn't carry a risk of broken ankles or necks. They made their way back down the walkways and ladders, careful to dodge the cannonballs the Sharpclaw occasionally lobbed at their location. The drawbridge was on the other side of the ramp they had used to get up there, and the path led to a tunnel that plunged deep into the side of the cavern wall. That in and of itself wouldn't have been so bad, except that this tunnel was a track for _another_ set of boulders that rolled along its length.

"Not these again," Krystal groaned softly. Fox chuckled at her comment, but he had to agree with the sentiment behind it. He had had enough of large multi-ton rocks as well, but hopefully this would be the last time they had to worry about them. The two of them waited until one boulder had gone by and then followed it, looking for any side paths that might lead to something useful. Krystal spotted it first, a small aside that held a couple of crates and another switch. They ducked out of the way of the boulders, and Krystal triggered the switch with her staff. There was another clunk of grinding machinery, although they were too deep in the tunnel to see what effect their actions had on the equipment in the cavern. The two foxes made their way back, dodging boulders that rolled along the track; fortunately, there was enough room to step aside when a stone came down the path. They made their way back to the entry ramp with little incident, and checked to see what they could do next.

What they could do next was climb the ladder to the cannon. That last switch had lowered the drawbridge into place, allowing them to climb the ladder to the cannon and use it to help bridge the last obstacle between them and their first SpellStone. Eager to finish their task, the two foxes fairly scampered down the pathway and up the ladder that would lead them to their goal. Manning the cannon was a loner Sharpclaw gunner, who stood no chance against even one of them let alone both. Once he was out of the way, Fox manned the cannon while Krystal slid back down the ladder and moved to within sight of the stalagmite to act as a spotter.

"Tricky! Belina!!" she called down to the two who were still waiting on the ground. "Move away from that pillar!" The Snowhorn and Earthwalker heard her instructions and hurried round to the back side of the spiral ramp that led up to the higher platforms. When Krystal saw that they were clear, she called up to Fox, "They're safe! You can start firing any time now."

Fox aimed the cannon as best he could and took a ranging shot. The shell sailed out of the barrel and plummeted down to the floor below; he heard an explosion as it landed, and then Krystal's voice came back up to him; "No good, too far to the right." Fox corrected his aim and sent another shell flying towards his target, and Krystal called back to him, "Almost there, just a little higher up." He tried one more time, giving the cannon a split-second longer to build up power behind the shot before he let it go. This time Krystal's held a distinct note of excitement:"That's it! Right where it needs to go! Just keep doing that and we'll have our bridge in no time!" Fox continued firing the cannon, making sure that the charge meter reached the exact same point that it did the previous time before releasing the trigger. The heavy granite column was tough but the repeated pounding form the explosive shells eventually stressed it past its breaking point. With a 'crack' that startled everyone in the vicinity, the stone monolith toppled over with a stately grace and landed half in and half out of the lava moat, creating a safe bridge that the party could use to cross it and access the chamber that lay behind it.

Fox disentangled himself from the cannon controls and slid down the access ladder, then joined Krystal in making his way down the walkways and ramps to the bottom floor. Once they were there, they joined Belina and Tricky at the near end of the fallen stalagmite. Krystal eyed the makeshift bridge uncertainly before turning to Belina and saying, "I don't think you'll be able to come with us."

"Don't worry, Krystal," Belina replied. "I will wait here for you and your friends to, and I'll bring you back to the surface when you are done here. This cave is no place for a Snowhorn to live."

"We'll see you then," Fox said. He led Krystal and Tricky over the bridge and into the alcove. All that was there was a glowing warp pad, which would presumably transport them to the Galdon's lair. Fox turn to the other members of his group and asked, "Are you guy ready?"

"I'm always ready!" Tricky shouted enthusiastically.

Krystal's response was a bit more sedate: "I am prepared," she told him.

"All right then, let's do this," Fox said, and the three of them stepped on the warp pad that transported them to the location of the SpellStone…and the Galdon.


	14. Chapter 14

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chapter 14

The glare of whatever mechanism that teleported creatures through space faded away, and Fox, Krystal, and Tricky stepped off the warp pad that they had materialized on. Each of them began to look around the area; the room they found themselves in was _huge_, a massive cavern whose ceiling was difficult to make out through the mist that shrouded the room. Pieces of rubble littered the area, and a few stream vents dotted the otherwise ice-coated floor, releasing plumes of vapor at unpredictable intervals. They made their way around the room, searching for anything that could be of use, but their search didn't turn up anything that immediately suggested a course of action. There were no other ways in or out of the chamber, and at the far end was an impossibly huge creature encased in a thick block of ice. It was the only thing of interest in the room, but none of the group wanted to approach it, let alone free it.

"Do you think that's the Galdon thing that Belina spoke of?" Krystal asked in a hushed whisper.

"Could be," Fox agreed. "It certainly matches Belina's description of it, what little there was." The issue then of course became, if this is the Galdon, then where is the SpellStone?

Tricky was the one who answered that question. "Look! Up in his hand; he's got the SpellStone!" the Earthwalker shouted.

"And there's no way we can get it while he's like that," Fox mused. "Still, why encase the guardian in ice in the first place?"

"Well, you wouldn't want your guardian to starve to death while he waited for challengers, would you?" Krystal said from behind him. She eyed the frozen behemoth uncertainly and ventured a question; "I don't suppose there's any way we could…"

"Simply pry the SpellStone from his cold dead fingers?" Fox finished her statement, using words different from those she would have chosen, but similar in sentiment. He looked up at the iced monstrosity himself, and concluded, "No I don't think so; at least not with any real chance of doing so without injury. Looks like we'll have to thaw this guy out and take him down."

"Oh, who knows?" Krystal said lightly. "Maybe he'll be so glad to be released that he'll give us the SpellStone out of sheer gratitude." Fox looked at her as though she'd suddenly sprouted wings, and she shrugged in reply. "I wouldn't depend on it, though." She eyed the pieces of rubble on the ground, and then the steam vents, and a gleam of inspiration came into her eyes. "Fox, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I don't know; am I?" he said cheekily. "If you're thinking that we can use the debris here to concentrate the steam on the Galdon, then yes I am." She made as if to cuff him on the shoulder for his impudence, but checked the motion and smiled at his jest. Both of them knew that the comedy was really an attempt to take their minds off of the danger they were about to unleash. The three of them set to work immediately, pushing pieces of rock into the holes in the ground, plugging all but the ones closest to the frozen Galdon. They left those free to spew plumes of acrid-smelling steam over the ice statue, and worked their way out from the Galdon so as to not be too close should the creature come to life unexpectedly. As they worked, the pressure under the fumaroles grew more intense, and the ones nearest the Galdon spouted more and more frequently. Water began to trickle from the massive form, and cracks appeared in the ice covering the monster. Suddenly, without warning, the Galdon heaved its massive bulk and shattered all the remaining ice that covered it. It glanced at the three puny creatures that had invaded its domain, and then at the SpellStone held in its right hand, and swallowed the rock with a loud gulp. It then began to advance on the trio, bellowing loud enough to set their ears ringing and send clouds of dust trickling from the ceiling.

To Krystal's eye, the Galdon was every bit as hideous as she had expected from Belina's description. Its torso resembled a regular reptoid's with two arms and hands made for grasping, but it appeared to have been grafted to another body that featured four stumpy legs made for walking. The effect was disturbingly reminiscent of a fiercely predatory insect she remembered from Cerinia; she'd been fascinated by the creatures when they were only a hand's span tall, but the prospect of meeting a fifty-foot specimen was guaranteed to ruin anyone's day. Its back was covered with a heavy segmented carapace that would render it impervious to damage from that direction. Its belly looked to be a little more tender, but reaching without getting crushed or grabbed would be a difficult feat indeed. At the base of its skull was a loose collar of skin that folded over its head, and was supported by six bony ribs that extended out beyond the collar itself. The ribs curled around into wicked -looking points at the ends that would lay flush against the Galdon's face when the collar was closed. The head itself resembled that of the Sharpclaws, but was large enough that it could swallow any of the party whole without even chewing.

The members of the party spread out so that the Galdon could only focus on one of them at a time; when it turned to face one of them it would leave itself open to attacks from the other two. The Galdon chose to follow Tricky at first, which meant the two foxes could circle around and attack its unprotected backside. Krystal opened up with her staff's Fire Blaster on the Galdon's belly, leaving small scorch marks on the scutes and stinging its hide, but doing little real damage to it. The Galdon roared and spun around to face this new threat, belching out a glob of acid at her. Krystal rolled away from the projectile and it landed where she had been standing, hissing and sizzling on the rocks. Fox rushed in and used the sharp end of his staff as a spear, jabbing at the Galdon's underside. The point bounced off the thick hide and brought him to the creature's attention; it left Krystal alone and turned to face Fox. It lunged at him with snapping jaws, forcing him to dive out of the way as its teeth slammed shut on empty air.

'This isn't working,' Krystal thought. 'We can make it mad, but we can't really hurt it.' At that point the Galdon, chasing its latest tormentor, turned it back to her and she caught sight of the stub of its tail. The stumpy appendage seemed to practically glow in her vision, and she realized that her mental senses were telling her where a vulnerable point existed, a place where a strike could do some real damage. She looked to her companions and shouted, "Fox! Tricky! Keep it distracted, I think its tail is its weak point!" Fox was panting from running around to avoid the Galdon's fangs and acid spit, but he nodded in acknowledgement and continued striking at the Galdon to keep its attention focused on him. Tricky spotted an opening and darted in, releasing a belch of scorching fire on the Galdon's underside. It reared back, momentarily dazzled, and Krystal, seeing her opportunity, rushed her target and swung her staff with all the force she could muster, slamming the head of the staff into the Galdon's stubby tail. It roared in pain and lifted its hindquarters up out of reach, but that didn't stop Krystal; she simply took aim and began sending Fire Blaster shots into her target.

Krystal knew her actions were having an effect even before the Galdon reacted; she could feel its shock, pain and outrage that such a small creature would dare hurt it so. She kept firing, hoping that she could overload its brain with pain signals and knock it unconscious. It might have been possible if she had more time, but the Galdon had been driven to rage by her attacks. It whipped around and lunged for her with snapping jaws, its speed so great that even with the advance warning her telepathy gave her Krystal had no time to avoid the strike. The best she could do was to tuck herself into a ball so that the Galdon's teeth didn't close down on her legs as they passed through its mouth and she was swallowed whole.

Krystal squeezed her eyes shut as she was forced down the Galdon's esophagus, and opened them when the sensed herself in free fall. She twisted in the air to land on her feet, splashing down up to her knees in lukewarm bile. The fumes from the digestive fluid s made her eyes water, but there was no stinging sensation yet that would indicate acid burns on her legs. A dim glow issued from the walls of what had to be the Galdon's stomach, and she felt despair at her plight threaten to overtake her.

"No," she whispered. "I didn't survive my homeworld's destruction and track my people's murderers all the way here just to end up as a snack for an overgrown lizard!" She was determined to give the Galdon the worst case of indigestion he'd _ever_ had, and to survive and escape the confines of the creatures belly at the same time. She looked around for a possible sensitive spot, and noticed a brighter glow coming from a glob of flesh hanging near the back of the chamber. There was something embedded in it, and she moved to take a closer look.

It was the SpellStone! She'd found what they had been searching all this way for, she just had to find a way to get it out of its fleshy prison. She drew her staff and started whacking at the lump, making it swing and bounce like a punching bag. She kept at her activity determinedly, not letting up until she felt the whole room shake and heave violently. Krystal knew what was about to happen, and a part of her was relieved even as another part was disgusted. She felt the ground pitch under her feet, so she ran to the place where she had entered the Galdon's belly, held her staff close to her body, and braced herself for the explosion to come.

* * *

Fox watched in horror as Krystal's legs disappeared inside the Galdon's cavernous maw. It seemed impossible, unthinkable, that the vivacious and gorgeous vixen would meet her end in the belly of a monster. Despair threatened to engulf him but it was swiftly pushed aside by another emotion – rage. 

He drew the staff and aimed it up at the Galdon's face, triggering the Fire Blaster and sending a barrage of energy bolts hissing across the monsters nose.

"Hey, you!" he shouted angrily. "You just had dinner; what about dessert!? How about I give you a little spice to go with it!?" As the Galdon opened its mouth to snap at him, Fox aimed and fired directly into the creature's gape, the sizzling energy orbs impacting in the back of its throat and making a wet popping sound as they hit the sensitive, delicate tissues in the back of its throat. The Galdon roared in agony and charged him, intending to trample this pest beneath its four clawed feet. Fox darted forward, heedless of his own safety, stabbing and slashing at the Galdon's softer underside with the sharp end of his staff and scoring the scales along its belly. His attack did no real damage but served to further infuriate the armored behemoth above him. It lifted its heavy bulk up and then slammed its body down, intending to squash him beneath its weight, but Fox scrambled out of the way just in time.

His wrath was far from satisfied, and likely wouldn't be until this monstrosity lay dead at his feet. But Fox's rational side was beginning to reassert itself and he realized that he wouldn't do anyone any good if he got squashed or eaten himself. He backed away from the Galdon and tried to think of a solution that didn't involve either of those two unappealing possibilities. Tricky looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes and asked him fearfully, "Is...Is she dead?"

"I don't know," Fox said, although he wasn't sure how anyone could survive for long in there. Aside from the issue of being digested, air was an important consideration as well. He tried to think of a way to take the Galdon out quickly, when he noticed something odd about the Galdon's behavior. It had stopped paying any attention to him and was holding its throat like it was choking on something. For an instant an absurd thought came to his mind - how do you Heimlich a fifty-foot monster – and then he realized what was actually happening.

The Galdon doubled over and retched, and Krystal came flying out of its mouth. She landed feet-first and rolled once along the floor, and Fox grabbed her hands and hauled her away from the Galdon as fast as he could. When they were a comfortable distance away, he stopped pulling and gave her a hand up in assistance, and once she was back to her feet, he asked her, "Krystal, are you all right?"

"I've just been vomited up like a piece of bad meat," she growled. "_No_, I am _not _all right!"

He looked her over and saw she was a mess. Her fur was matted with some sort of goo that had picked up dust from the floor as she slid across it, and it smelled slightly sour, like bile. Krystal took stock of her condition and the expression on her face could only be described as revolted. "Oh … _gross_," she moaned, shaking her hands in a futile attempt to remove some of the goo that clung to her body. The comment was so uncharacteristically prissy of her that Fox actually snickered a bit before she silenced him with a warning glare, but on the other hand he imagined that he would feel about the same if he were in that situation.

A growl from the Galdon refocused their attention on the threat at hand. The massive creature had scrambled over to one side of the chamber and planted its still-smarting behind in a corner, blocking access to that particular part of its anatomy. It hissed and fumed in anger at the hurt these tiny pests had inflicted upon it, and Krystal's keen eyesight picked out a slit on it chest, situated between its forelimbs and undulating slightly with the flow of respiration. "I bet that's its weak point now," she commented to Fox. "The SpellStone is inside its stomach; I was able to loosen it up a little, but I think one of us will have to get swallowed again in order to finish the job."

She shuddered slightly at the thought of spending any more time in the Galdon's belly than she already had, and Fox said, "Don't worry, I'll volunteer for that this time." She looked at him as though he'd lost his mind, but at the same time was grateful that he was taking the onus off of her shoulders for that particular task. They began to advance on the Galdon, who bellowed and started spitting energy balls at them. Just before it released a projectile, the slit on its chest opened up quickly and then closed again, and Krystal thought she could see a faintly glowing vapor being drawn in every time the slit opened.

It gave her an idea. "Fox, I think the Galdon is drawing some sort of energy out of the air, and is using that to power its attacks. If we can hit that opening on its chest while it does that, I think we'll be able to hurt it."

"Why don't we just walk up and let it eat us?" he asked. "That would be simpler."

"Yes, indeed it would, but he's wise to that tactic right now," the vixen replied. "He knows that we can hurt him from the inside if he swallows us alive, so he's going to try to kill us first and _then_ eat us. We need to make him mad again, like what happened when I beat on his tail stump, so that he forgets about that."

Fox was unsure about how she could know all this, but then he recalled that she was telepathic. He decided to trust her judgment; after all, her life was on the line just as much as his was. They came close enough that they could place their shots with a reasonable degree of accuracy, and the Galdon's fire became faster and more intense. Both foxes had to dodge and roll in order to keep from getting hit, but they were finally in a position to do some real damage. They started firing at the opening on the Galdon's chest; Krystal, with her telepathy, was able to predict the openings much better, but Fox had the benefit of pilot's reflexes. He watched Krystal carefully, and only fired when she did. In this manner, they were able to cut past the Galdon's defenses and keep the creature from unleashing many more energy attacks.

The Galdon seemed to grow more and more furious as they simultaneously thwarted his attacks and inflicted punishing counterstrikes of their own. Krystal could sense its increasing rage at its inability to put an end to its tormentors, but when the creature finally snapped it happened so fast that even she was taken by surprise. It lunged forward with blinding speed and closed its jaws around the figure of the red-furred vulpine ahead of her. Even though Krystal knew this was part of the plan, she couldn't help a surge of panic and concern for the safety of her companion. As Fox's legs disappeared inside the Galdon's maw, she retreated to a safe distance and prayed that this would work.

* * *

Fox felt the muscles in the Galdon's throat push him down into its stomach. He felt the tunnel open up around him and the sensation of falling, and closed his eyes to avoid them being damaged by the 

monster's digestive fluids. He landed on his stomach and got to his feet, soaked in bile and stinking worse than anything he'd ever smelled before, but there was no time to dwell on that. He squinted his eyes and peered through the gloom, searching for the glow that would tell him where his target was.

He found it near the back of the chamber, partially loosened from its fleshy encasement by Krystal's previous efforts but not yet completely freed. He drew his staff and began hitting the area around the SpellStone with its blunt end. The glob of flesh it was embedded in bounced around a bit and the walls and floor of the chamber shook and heaved, and Fox realized he would have to get the SpellStone out quick if he didn't want to have to get the Galdon to swallow him _again_. He thought quickly, and decided to use the sharper end of his staff. He slashed the spear-like point around the area where the SpellStone was embedded, drawing blood and loosening it with every slash.

After only a minute or so, the SpellStone fell out of its prison and onto the floor; Fox scrambled to pick it up, but just as he got to it he felt the floor shake and heard a dull rumbling sound. "Oh, no," he groaned as he felt the tremors getting more and more intense. Suddenly the walls of the chamber began to collapse in on him, forcing him toward the point where he had come in. He felt a rush of pressure behind him, and held on tightly to the SpellStone as he was ejected from the Galdon's stomach at a tremendous velocity.

* * *

Krystal knew something big was happening when she saw the Galdon begin to choke and gasp for breath. It grabbed its throat with its hands and made strange gargling noises, as though it had fluid in its lungs. For a second the noises stopped and she wondered if the creature was going to recover, but then it gagged and coughed, and Fox shot out of the creature's mouth as though he'd been fired from a cannon. His yelp of astonishment Dopplered away as he passed her; and then he landed, sliding along the icy surface of the cavern on his back until his feet slammed into a particularly large boulder that stopped him cold.

Krystal rushed to his side to check on him; if anything, he looked even worse than she did after being ejected from the Galdon's mouth. She gave him a hand to help him lever himself into a sitting position, and then the two of them turned to watch the Galdon. It was making horrible gurgling noises, choking and convulsing as it tried to survive after all the internal damage the two foxes had done to it; but eventually the battle to draw breath became too much for it, and it collapsed to the floor of the cavern with a thud and a final wheeze.

"Must have been something he ate," Fox said acerbically. There was no sympathy in his expression. He stuffed the SpellStone into his back pack; after all the trouble they had gone through to get it, losing it now would be the ultimate aggravation.

Krystal smiled at his acidic remark and asked; "Are you all right, Fox?"

"Yeah, I think so…no wait, belay that." When he put his weight on his right foot, pain radiated out of his ankle and his leg almost gave way underneath him. He winced at the pain and began examining his ankle. "I hope it isn't broken…" he murmured.

Krystal pulled his boot off and carefully pressed her fingertips along the joint. She looked up to him and said, "I don't think it's broken, but it's probably either twisted or sprained."

"That's not good," he groaned. "I don't think I can _hop_ all the way out of here."

Krystal studied the situation for a moment, and then said, "Here, give me your arm." He held his right arm up to her, and she took his hand and pulled back, using her weight to help counterbalance his and give him a boost up in the process. Then she slung his arm over her shoulders and let him lean against her for support, while she held him with her left arm around his waist, steadying him and providing stability. Despite the pain in his ankle, Fox was enjoying the sensation of holding her so close to him.

Krystal straightened up, and he found that they could manage a steady pace; not as fast as he could normally walk when uninjured, but certainly faster than he would be able to manage unaided in his current state. They made their way back towards the warp pad that they had come in on, where Tricky was already waiting for them.

"Did you get it?" he asked eagerly. Fox nodded and grinned, but then Tricky noticed that he was leaning on Krystal for support. "Are you hurt, Fox?" he asked, concern evident in his tone.

"A little," Fox admitted with a groan, "but we have it under control right now. Let's get out of here." The three of them stepped onto the warp pad, and with a shimmer of light they were transported back to the main DarkIce mines area. Fox looked at the makeshift bridge with a little consternation, but with Krystal's assistance, he made it over just fine.

Belina Te stood there waiting, and her expression brightened up when she saw the two foxes making their way towards her. Her eyes narrowed a little in concern as she saw Fox limping along while supported on Krystal's shoulder, and she asked, "Is he all right?"

"It's just a twisted ankle," Krystal said. "But, I don't think we'll be able to make it out in any decent time."

"Here," Belina said, moving over to the broken stump of the stalagmite and kneeling a little stiffly to the ground. "I'll carry you." Fox looked a little dubious at the proposal, but Belina said, "I insist. It's the least I can do for you after all you have done for me and my tribe." Krystal helped him up with a boost, and then she hopped up behind him, settling in close behind him and putting an arm around his waist to help hold her balance. Fox placed a hand over hers and looked back into her eyes as Belina stood up and began walking back towards the exit. The look the two foxes exchanged spoke volumes without a spoken word being exchanged between the two of them. Their shared peril had forged a greater bond between them; each had come to rely on the other, to trust each other completely. It was a new feeling for both of them, and neither was exactly sure how to proceed, but both fervently wanted to explore the possibility of a deeper relationship.

Belina headed into the tunnel she had come out of when she first entered his section of the mines, prompting Fox to ask hesitantly, "Um, Belina? Isn't this way blocked off at the end?"

Belina couldn't turn her head and answer him without risking running into the wall of the twisting and curving tunnel, so she kept her gaze ahead even as she replied, "While you and Krystal were battling the Galdon, I managed to organize a few of the Snowhorns who had been kept prisoner down here. We cleared out the rubble, so there's nothing blocking the way out now."

"Ah," Fox said. "Okay, that'll make thing easier." Belina made her way out of the tunnel, passing the point where she had smashed down the wall only a few hours earlier. If anything she had understated the matter; lined up nearby were dozens of recently freed Snowhorns, waving their trunks in the air and trumpeting until the whole cavern rang with the sounds. Fox held his hands over his ears and asked, "What's the occasion?"

"With the defeat of most of the Sharpclaws in this area," Belina explained, "we are no longer compelled to labor in the mines. The conditions down there were terrible; many Snowhorns died as a result of the heat and the stale air."

"If they're accustomed to life in the cold," Krystal mused, "being in the lava caverns of the lower mines meant they constantly risked heatstroke."

"You have freed us from our enslavement," Belina said. "We are greatly in your debt." She came to the point where the foxes had previously needed to jump down to bypass the platforms with the flame jets; some of the Snowhorns had set up a ramp out of disassembled building material that allowed Belina to make her way down off the platform without risking herself or her passengers.

Something occurred to Fox, and he called, "Belina, wait. We need to stop here and collect some things we left." Belina stopped and allowed her passengers to dismount; Krystal slid off first, and then Fox, making sure he landed on his good foot so he didn't aggravate his injured ankle any further. Krystal helped him regain his balance, and he tested his foot carefully while she helped keep him upright. It seemed that his right ankle could support his weight while standing, but wouldn't tolerate the stress of walking or any more strenuous activity. They recovered the snowsuits that they had stashed here earlier, and put them back on, assisting each other as they needed to. Once they were both suited up against the cold on the surface, they got back on Belina's back and continued on up the ramp that led out of the lower mines.

Fox had another concern, namely the massive boulders that bounced and rolled at the end of this particular tunnel, but Belina apparently had a solution already in mind. About two-thirds of the way through, she turned onto a side tunnel that led around the main branch and bypassed the problem area altogether. They emerged once more into the daylight, and all three of them squinted against the sudden glare of the sun after so long underground.

"I never knew if I'd ever see the sun again," Belina whispered. The mere sight of something she had always taken for granted before was enough to move her to tears of relief, while Fox and Krystal took deep breaths of the clean, chilly air. Belina carried them all the way up to the area where the Arwing was parked; she couldn't go past the point where the narrow basalt paths began, so she let her passengers dismount, and started to head back to where the rest of her tribe waited for her. Before she left, however, she turned to the two foxes and said, "Fox...Krystal…thank you both so much for everything you've done for me and my tribe. And, if you see my father, tell him…tell him I'm all right, that I miss him, and that I'm sorry."

"We will," Krystal promised. "Stay safe until we see each other again, Belina Te." The Snowhorn female waved her trunk in acknowledgment and turned to rejoin the rest of her tribe. Krystal gave Fox her arm to lean on as they worked their way back to the Arwing. Fox had a few misgivings about the pathway, remembering how close they had come to disaster the first time they had come here, but apparently whatever loose section of pathway that had existed had fallen already and they encountered no further difficulties on their way to the Arwing. Once there, Krystal let go of Fox and asked him, "How's your ankle now?"

"It's a little better," he replied. "I must have just turned it when I hit that rock. Still, I probably ought to wrap it up for support until it gets better." He reached into the Arwing's small cargo bay and pulled out a first-aid kit. He placed it on the ground by the landing strut and opened it up; inside was everything one could reasonably expect for an extended mission, ranging from bandages and antiseptic ointment to stitching needles and thread to broad-spectrum antibiotics. Fox rummaged through the kit until he found what he was looking for; a length of bandage that could be wrapped around his injured ankle and support it while he healed. With Krystal's help, he got his boot off and the bandage on, and then tested his weight on his right foot with the bandage. "Hmm," he mused, "I guess I could stand on it, but I wouldn't want to do any hiking or jogging or anything like that."

"We'll see if you can get some rest when we get back down to the planet," Krystal suggested.

Fox nodded and opened the canopy ad the bomb bay allowing Tricky to crawl in and settle down. He waited until the steps had swung out to hop up into the pilot's seat; once there, he started strapping in, and then froze. "Uh-oh," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" Krystal asked as her head appeared above the lip of the cockpit.

"I just realized…I can't fly with an injured ankle."

"Oh," she said with a concerned look on her face. "That is a problem. Should we wait here until you've recovered?"

"I'd really rather not if I don't have to," Fox said. He sat there and thought for a moment, and then an idea came into his head. "Hey Krystal, you said you flew your own ship to this world, right?" She nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this yet, and he continued, "Well, how would you like to learn to fly an Arwing?"

Her jaw dropped slightly in surprise. "Are you joking?"

"Nope," he said. He began unbuckling the restraints and was about to get out of the seat when Krystal stopped him. "Hold on," she said, "Stay where you are." She vaulted into the cockpit and seated herself on top of his thighs. She felt him start and turned to look at him with a smirk. "Try not to enjoy this _too_ much."

"I promise," Fox said a little breathlessly. "I'll enjoy it just enough." He sat up a little straighter and found that he could just barely see over her shoulder. "So, is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Put your hands over mine on the controls," she told him. As he complied with her instruction, she told him, "This will allow me to sense how you would operate the controls, and I'll be able to learn as we fly." His hands settled in above hers on the flight sticks as she gripped them, and he ran through the preflight checklist with her. Even sitting on his lap as she was, she could still reach the control pedals with her feet, which was the whole reason behind this arrangement in the first place. It was a little awkward at first, but she managed to get the hang of things soon enough. With only a minor wobble to mark its pilot's relative inexperience with starfighters, the Arwing lifted off the ground and nosed into the sky.

As the craft gained altitude, the two foxes seated in the cockpit could see a multitude of Snowhorns, bidding them farewell and a safe journey. Soon their height grew too great to make out any details on the assemble throngs below, and Krystal pointed the Arwing's nose towards the swirling vortex that was their exit point. She eased up the throttle and felt the starfighter respond with ready ease, as she entered the warp gate and started them on their path back to the planet.

* * *

_Well, chapter 14 is now complete. This chapter was intended to put both Fox and Krystal in their first life-or-death situation, and also to deepen the romance building between them atleast somewhat. Everyone who reads this, please r&r and tell me how I'm doing! _


	15. Chapter 15

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chp. 15

The Arwing passed through the energy portal that provided a safe exit from the DarkIce Mines region and entered the pure void of space. The ship's temporary pilot angled the craft towards the large blue and green sphere that was the main body of the planet Sauria, and for the first time, Krystal got a clear view of the damage that Scale's mad quest for power had caused to the planet. She couldn't spare much time for anger over the effects of their enemy's ambition though; piloting the starfighter required practically all her attention. The shuttle that she had arrived on Sauria in was designed for a novice pilot, and had multiple redundancies and automated systems to keep anyone from making any catastrophic errors. The Arwing, on the other hand, was a military craft, and thus was much more sensitive to even the slightest input from the controls. She was worried about messing up, and it showed in the tension with which she gripped the control sticks.

"You're doing pretty well for a first flight and no simulator practice," Fox's voice said reassuringly from behind her. She was currently seated on his lap, with his hands over hers to help her with the controls. There was a certain amount of strain in his voice, but she wasn't sure whether it was related to her piloting or the fact that she was in such close proximity to him. Even though they were both still wearing their thermal suits, she had no doubt that the image of her in her top and loincloth was still very vivid in his mind.

"Thank you, Fox," she replied. "What about you; you seem a little tense right now."

"Um…I think I'll be fine, as long as you don't wiggle much," he said nervously.

"What, like this?" she asked impishly, shimmying her hips around on top of his lap and eliciting a strangled, high-pitched yelp from him. She tried to keep her feet steady as she did this; even so, the motion made the fighter wobble a little, causing her to mutter an imprecation under her breath as she tried to stabilize the flight. A light began to blink on and off on the console, and she worried that she had just damaged something.

"Fox, what does this warning light mean?" she asked nervously.

"Where?" he asked, trying to see over her shoulder. "Oh, that one? That's not a warning, it means that there's an incoming transmission. Just hit the button to let it through."

She tapped the button like he said, and the lower part of the screen shifted to reveal the face of a green-skinned toad wearing a red mechanic's hat on his head between his eyes. He blinked in surprise at seeing someone other than the Arwing's usual pilot at the controls, but then he recovered and grinned mischievously. "Hey, Fox, you're looking a little blue today," he quipped.

Krystal stuck the tip of her tongue out in retort as Fox replied, "Can the comedy act Slippy. What'cha calling for?"

"Well, we were wondering if you were alright, since you were flying kinda erratically there, but I guess we know the answer to that question," Slippy said. "We also got a transmission back from General Pepper; looks like he got a few answers regarding the inquiry he sent about suspected Venom activity. I think it ought to wait 'til you're back on the ground, though." Krystal grumbled impatiently at this, but decided that if she had waited this long for new answers, a little longer wouldn't do any harm. Slippy cocked his head to the side and asked, "So, why _is_ Krystal flying the Arwing, anyway?"

"I turned my ankle during a fight in the DarkIce Mines, so I can't fly at the moment," Fox said. "Since she had some experience flying a different craft, and it was blasted cold there, I asked her to try and she assented. She's doing pretty well, all things considered."

"If you say so, Fox," Slippy said a little dubiously. "Call us back when you get back to the surface and we'll give you the scoop." The image on the screen wavered and disappeared, leaving the two foxes alone in the cockpit again. Fox looked over Krystal's shoulder to see Sauria looming larger in view, and asked her, "Do you know how to land this craft?"

"I think so," she said, "but if I need help you'll be the first person I ask." Fox snickered at that comment; he was the _only_ person she could ask in here. Krystal carefully angled the Arwing in towards the portal that hung over Snowhorn Wastes, trimming the fighter's speed as she closed in on the Gateway. With her relative unfamiliarity with the controls, it was better to approach the target area at a lower speed, to give herself a little more time to react. She edged the ship through the vortex, and they suddenly reappeared in the clear cold skies over Snowhorn Wastes, a few hundred meters above the ground. Krystal leveled out and started flying back towards Thorntail Hollow, the place where they had more or less established a base of operations for Fox's mission on Sauria.

Evening was crawling over the landscape as they arrived, the shadows of dusk sweeping over the landscape and hiding some of the details of the ground. Fox carefully touched her hands, showing her how to operate the controls to bring the Arwing down to a smooth and safe landing. As the starfighter came down to the ground, the two foxes could see a Thorntail hurrying anxiously towards them, and the expression on its face was anything but happy. Fox opened the canopy and he and Krystal climbed out of the cockpit, stripping off the heavy thermal suits as soon as their feet touched the ground. He absently noted that it seemed a lot darker in here than he remembered previously. He couldn't determine the exact reason, so he simply shrugged and hit the button that would open the bomb chute and allow Tricky to exit the Arwing. The Thorntail skidded to a stop in front of them, and Fox had a feeling that they were about to learn what the problem was.

"You 'ave to help us!" the Thorntail wailed. "Those 'orrible Sharpclaws put out all our lovely beacons, and now it gets too dark at night. We're scared of the dark!" He broke down in sobs after he had finished, and Tricky and Krystal tried to help comfort him.

Fox thought it was a little silly for a grown creature, even a dinosaur, to still harbor a fear of the dark, but then he recalled something from high school biology class. Most big predators in remote or undeveloped areas tended to come out at night, and Sauria was about as remote and undeveloped as it could get. A fear of the dark was a useful survival mechanism here, and there were no real safe areas that the Thorntails could retreat to in order to hide from anything that might come by. "Okay, just hang in there," he said soothingly. "We'll see what we can do." He pulled Krystal aside and asked her, "Do you know how we could get those beacons lit again?"

"Not offhand," she replied, "but I'm sure there's a way somewhere around here. All we have to do is find it." She gave him an appraising look and asked, "How's you ankle feeling now?"

Better," he replied, "but the prospect of running around here in the dark is making me cringe a little."

"Hmm," she mused. "I have an idea; why don't you stay here and get the campsite set up, and Tricky and I will see what we can do about getting those beacons relit." He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off with a warning glare. "And if you say, 'That's womens' work,' I'll box your ears."

Fox closed his mouth and grinned a little abashedly at her warning. It wasn't what he had intended to say, but he was going to protest the division of labor she had proposed. He felt uncomfortable taking what he thought was the easy job, but Krystal had a point; fumbling around in the dark would likely aggravate his injury. "Okay then," he answered, "I'll get things set up here so you can come back to a nice hot meal when you're done. And, I don't know about you, but I desperately want a bath or a shower as soon as possible." She smiled at him, which made his heart skip even in the shades of dusk, and moved off to find something to get the flames in the beacons started again.

Krystal remembered passing one beacon as she had come in from Cape Claw, so she went to that one to see what she could do about it. It didn't look promising at first; there was a fuel source deep within the core of the beacon, but she needed something to act as a wick, otherwise Tricky's flame would not catch. She stood there for a little while, pondering on what she could use, until something nudged her leg. "What is it, Tricky?" she asked a little absently.

"I don't know if this will help any," the Earthwalker prince said hesitantly, "but I can remember seeing a strange tree here when I came to visit before. One of the Thorntails called it a Fire Weed tree, and he said that during dry spells the parts on top would sometimes catch fire, and burn for days while the rest of the tree was fine."

His description immediately piqued her interest. "Show me," she asked him. He led her over to a tree that stood in the middle of the area that had large, tumbleweed-like tufts at the top. The plant reminded her a bit of the Frost Weeds that she and Fox had fed to Garunda Te in order to give him the strength he needed to break his icy prison. The tufts were indeed on fire, and how they could blaze for so long without burning out or setting the rest of the tree on fire, she had no idea. They would serve quite nicely for her purposes, though they would have to be extinguished before she would be able to pick any of them up. Krystal gave the tree an experimental whack with her staff, and several of the tufts were shaken loose to fall at her feet. She carefully nudged them over to the stream to douse them, and then picked one up in her hands to carry it over to the beacon.

Krystal carefully placed the fire weed on the brazier at the top of the beacon and then stepped back to allow Tricky to light it back up. The Earthwalker inhaled deeply and blew out a long plume of flame over the top of the beacon. The fire weed snapped and popped as the water it had absorbed was swiftly vaporized, and then it caught fire again and began burning bright and hot. Several of the Thorntails standing nearby looked up at the glow of the flames and smiled appreciatively at the return of the light that the beacons emitted. Krystal smiled back at them in return and went back to the Fire Weed tree to fetch another weed.

On her way back, she passed Fox, who was busy setting up a small camp area while she did her work. She paused to talk to him, and he asked her, "Success?"

"I got one relit," she answered. "How many more are there?"

"I can see one on the end of that small hill over there," he told her, pointing to the other side of the area. She turned to see where he was pointing and saw another beacon standing at the edge of a small platform, with a narrow, somewhat steep ramp leading up to it. "And I think I can recall another one in the Warpstone's garden."

"Warpstone?" Krystal asked in inquiry.

Fox just smiled enigmatically and said, "Just wait and see." She wasn't really sure what to make of that, so she hurried to the tree and grabbed another Fire Weed, and then made her way across the Hollow to the second beacon, at the end of the hill. She placed the Fire Weed in the cup at the top of the beacon and stepped back to let Tricky light it back up, then went back to the tree to retrieve the last weed that she had dislodged. Once that was in hand, she made her way up the hill that led to the somewhat walled-off area that Fox had called the Warpstone's garden. As soon as he strode past the wall, however, she stopped in her tracks and stared at the immense stone figure that dominated this little corner of Thorntail Hollow.

"Ach, lil' lass, just what d' ye be lookin' for, now?" the stone figure asked.

"Umm… erm… I mean, do you know where the beacon is?" Krystal asked a little distractedly. The Warpstone was clearly both intelligent and self-aware, and yet she couldn't sense any sort of thought patterns from him at all.

"Aye, lass, it's right over here," it replied, turning around and showing her where the object of her interest was. It rested a little bit back from the edge of the waterfall, far enough that it wouldn't get doused by the spray, but close enough that it could shed some light over the rest of the Hollow… or at least, would if it were lit. Krystal placed the last Fire Weed on top, and let Tricky ignite the tough plant material with one last belch of fire, and the beacon started to burn bright and cheerful.

Krystal stepped back to the entrance of the garden and took a look over the area. With the restoration of the beacons, Thorntail Hollow was a much brighter place, the warm glow of the flames providing enough light for anyone to see by in even the darkest night. Krystal smiled again at the work she had been able to accomplished, and began walking back towards the landing site to see how Fox was coming along with the camp setup.

She found him sitting on the ground next to a small fire lay that was assembled and ready but not lit, with a pair of towels slung over one arm and a couple of bottles held in his hands. When she looked at them in inquiry, he shrugged and said simply, "I thought we might like to bathe first, get all that gunk from the Galdon's throat off us before we sat down to eat and rest."

"That's a wonderful idea, Fox," Krystal told him. "So, do you want to wash my back first, or do you want me to wash yours first?" she asked him impishly.

His jaw dropped open at her question, and he swallowed hard and ducked his head in embarrassment. "I, ah, um, I don't think that would really be proper right now," he stammered. "I mean, we've only just met, I'd think it would be too soon for such an intimate activity; not that I'm completely averse to the notion, I mean, you are quite attractive, but I just…" His voice trailed off as he grew too tongue-tied to properly speak. He had kept his gaze averted the whole time, so he didn't realize that Krystal was shaking with silent mirth until she could no longer hold her laughter in, and it burst out of her mouth in silvery peals that brought his attention back up to her face.

Krystal had to take a minute to bring herself back under control, but even then she had to fight to suppress another bout of giggles at his reaction to her flirtatious query. She gently stroked his cheek and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, Fox, I won't try to push you into a situation where you feel uncomfortable. There's enough space here for each of us to have some privacy while we bathe. Do you want the upstream segment or the downstream?"

"I'll, umm, I'll take the downstream," he replied. Though he was over most of his embarrassment, even in the twilight of evening she could tell that he was still blushing from her earlier teasing.

She looked into his eyes and told him, "I didn't mean to embarrass you quite that much, but you are quite cute when you do that."

"Uh, thanks, I think," he replied. "And I think it sounds very beautiful when you laugh; I just wish it wasn't so often at my expense." He handed her a towel and a bottle of shampoo, and the two of them separated and moved off to their chosen sections of the stream that flowed through the middle of Thorntail Hollow, Krystal to the section near the waterfall, and Fox to the section closer to the Arwing's landing site. Once he had reached his chosen spot, Fox stripped off his flight suit and undershorts and plunged into the lukewarm waters of the stream, carrying his flight suit with him to help rinse it off as well. He poured a little bit of concentrated shampoo from the hygiene kit out of its tube and rubbed it into lather in his hands, and then began to scrub the dried fluids from the Galdon's stomach out of his fur.

Krystal stopped just before the waterfall that poured out from the Warpstone's garden. She checked to make sure that she had some privacy, and then she stripped off both the vest that Fox had let her borrow, and her top and loincloth and plunged under the waterfall. The flow of water wasn't that strong, making it more like a strong shower than a crushing deluge, and she stayed under it for a few minutes before she squeezed a bit of the shampoo in the bottle into her hands and began to scrub herself clean. It felt incredibly good to get all the gunk that had dried and caked in her fur out, and the feel of the water running over her was wonderful as well. She also made sure to wash the gunk off of her clothes as well, since they were really the only set she had at the moment.

Once she was finished washing off, she crawled up onto the bank and shook herself, in a peculiar motion that started at her neck and shoulders and moved in a wave down her back to her hips and tail. The action sent water flying from her body and left her fur somewhat damp rather than dripping wet. After she was done with that, she picked up the towel from the branch that she had hung it on, and began to dry herself off more thoroughly, mopping up every last drop of water until the only moisture that remained was in her hair. She took her loincloth and top and blotted them dry with the towel as well, and then put them back on, picked up the vest, and went to look for Fox.

She saw him in silhouette, and made sure he had gotten at least his shorts back on before she approached him, clearing her throat noisily to announce her presence. He jumped and turned around suddenly, then relaxed a little when he saw that it was only her. He grinned slightly as she approached, and said, "If you had a camera, you could probably make a fortune right now."

"How so?" Krystal asked, uncertain about what he meant by that statement.

He tested his flight suit to see if it was dry yet. Although it was made of a synthetic material that didn't hold water the way natural fibers would, it was still a little damp so he left it up on a nearby branch to dry. After he had adjusted the suit so that it would dry quicker, he turned to answer her question. "Because of what my team and I accomplished during the Lylat War, we have become quite the celebrities in the intervening years. There are many people who would give quite a lot in order to say that they were able to meet us, and our popularity among the general citizenry of Lylat has soared in the aftermath of the war; particularly among the young females of the population."

He thought for a moment, and then said, "Just as an example, there was one young vixen in particular, I don't remember her name, but she was in either her late teen years or early twenties. I do remember that she was a red fox like me, but had long, blond hair, and like to wear some really brightly patterned outfits. I also remember that she kept trying to pinch me on the cheek."

"Like this?" Krystal asked, tweaking the side of his muzzle playfully.

"Um, no, different kind of cheek, actually," Fox corrected a little embarrassedly. "As a matter of fact, she actually tried to kidnap me at one point. She wasn't trying to hurt me or anything; she just let her enthusiasm overwhelm her discretion."

Krystal looked rather surprised by this admission, but then she grinned and said, "Well, I can't really fault her taste any. So, an image of you in your undergarments would attract quite a lot of demand." She gave him an appraising look and said, "So you are telling me that despite the fact that you have had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of your fame and renown, you never did?"

"No," he replied. "I'd feel like such a slime ball if I did. I mean, even if I knew that all a girl wanted was…well, one night alone with me and nothing beyond that, I'd feel like I was taking unfair advantage of her and my status as a hero, and I expect better of myself than that."

His statement caused her to look at him with new respect. Many heroes and celebrities she had known would take advantage of their popularity for personal pleasure without a second thought. That Fox had declined to do so, even when the offer had been put to him, spoke volumes about the nobility of his heart, and made her like him even more. She turned away to give him some privacy while he put his flight suit back on, and then turned around once he was done and held the vest up in one hand. "Do you want this back now?" she asked him.

"Um…" he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously. "If you like it, you can keep it," he finally answered.

"You mean it?" she asked, with a hint of excitement in her voice. Fox nodded in reply, and the look on Krystal's face was like that of a girl who had just had the school quarterback hand her his jacket. She put it back on once she knew it was dry, and adjusted its positioning until it fit comfortably again. She looked back up at him and brushed the tips of her fingers across his cheek in gratitude. His ears backed a little nervously at her touch, but he didn't shy away from it. Krystal brushed his cheek once more before a rumble in his stomach caused him to look down in embarrassment, and she to realize that there was food waiting for them back at the campsite he had so carefully set up next to the Arwing.

As they neared the campsite, several objects sitting near the fire lay caught her attention. She knelt down to take a closer look, and smiled upon recognizing several oblong pods resting on the ground. She picked one up and turned to Fox with a slight gin as she said, "This doesn't look like a ration bar to me."

He shrugged and answered, "Hey, I don't want to eat just rations while I'm here. They're mainly for when there's nothing else available." He got the fire started and set the soup packet on top to heat up, then looked up at her and asked, "Do you know what they're called?"

"Dumbledang pods," she replied. "They're quite tasty once you get past the rind, although they can be rather difficult to open if you don't know the proper technique." She demonstrated by taking one of the pods and smashing it end-down on a nearby rock. There was a sharp 'crack' as the rind split along the seams in its surface and the fruit opened up into four pieces.

Krystal handed two of them back to Fox, who accepted them with a small grin as he said, "Hey, we learn something new every day." She smiled back and held her slice of fruit up in silent thanks, and then the two of them bit into their pieces. To Fox, the Dumbledang Pod tasted a bit like a combination of a watermelon and a citrus fruit of some sort, with the added benefit of almost no seeds to have to pick around. The pulp wasn't as stringy or bitter as he'd thought it would be; in fact, it was rather sweet with a slightly sour hint to it, like a very mellow grapefruit. He finished his two pieces quickly, and checked on the progress of the soup. It was pretty much well done, so he moved it to the side to let it simmer a little and cool.

Krystal opened up another Dumbledang pod while he was doing that, and offered him half of the fruit. Fox took it gratefully, and then he remembered what Peppy had told him while they were still in orbit. He slipped the PDA off his wrist and activated the comm function, adjusting the camera angle so that it would include both of them in the outgoing image, then set it down on the ground so he could have his hands free to eat.

Peppy's head materialized in holographic form and turned to look at the two of them. "Hey, Fox, what took you so long to call back?" he asked.

"We had a small emergency to take care of here, and then we both wanted to get cleaned up before anything else happened, so we've been a little busy up 'til just now," Fox replied. But everything is in order now, so what were you going to tell us?"

"Yes, um," the hare began, looking down at a data screen out of the projector's line of view. "It seems that Venom sent a small expedition outside of Lylat space four and a half years ago."

"That would be about the right time," Krystal said. "They arrived on my world a little under four years ago."

"As since Corneria was still in the middle of rebuilding after the Lylat War, it didn't attract much attention to the time," Peppy continued. "Perhaps we should have paid closer attention to anything Venom was doing, but at the time everyone was quite tired of war and didn't want to risk starting another one when there was no clear evidence of a threat to us our out interests. Anyway, it seems that this expedition was outfitted for an extended survey mission, although there was also some other equipment that they brought along that we have no idea what function it served. Communication logs indicate that this expedition transmitted updates and reports back to Venom on a regular basis, up until about two years ago, and then all signals abruptly ceased."

"That was about when my… when Cerinia was destroyed," Krystal added sadly. "When the Venom contingent first arrived on Cerinia, they said that they were trying to study our planet's ecosystem because it resembled how the one on their homeworld used to be. They wanted to see how things worked on our world so they could fix what had gone wrong on theirs. We had no real reason to distrust them, they were polite and friendly enough, and without sufficient grounds we were prohibited by law from trying to probe their minds any deeper than surface impressions. Even among telepaths, the sanctity of one's inner thoughts is held dear." She broke off her sentence and sniffed slightly as she felt her eyes begin to water.

Recounting those memories was taking an obvious emotional toll on her, so Fox reached over and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. She smiled at him in gratitude and resumed her thoughts. "They allowed us into certain areas of their outpost, probably to help alleviate concerns about what their intentions were, but kept us out of other areas; citing the sensitive nature of the equipment and the work being done in them. We knew that certain instruments of our own design could be disrupted by errant factors, so we respected their wishes in this matter. Some of our leading intellectuals even became friends with the newcomers, realizing that they had knowledge in areas that we did not, and that we would be able to help them with their research with firsthand knowledge of our world. It was believed that each party could benefit from an exchange of ideas and information. They also showed some of us how to work a few of their less complicated devices; one of them even gave me some lessons on piloting one of the shuttles that they had brought with them."

Krystal paused for a moment, and then continued "We had no reason to doubt them or their intentions until just under two years ago, when the planet's surface became unstable all of a sudden. Earthquakes began wracking the land on a regular basis, becoming more and more violent as time went on. We asked the Venom scientists if they knew anything about what was going on, but they claimed to be as mystified as we were. Some of us believed that they were not being wholly honest with us at that point, but short of trespassing on their territory, there was no way we could prove that. Eventually, however, as conditions kept worsening, my mother took it upon herself to enter the restricted areas of their compound to see what they were actually doing in there."

"She found something, I take it?" Fox asked. Krystal nodded, but didn't make any verbal reply to that question. When she was quiet for a long moment, Fox nudged her and asked gently, "What did she find?"

"I don't clearly know," Krystal replied hesitantly, "but… but keeping it secret was important enough to them to kill her over it. They shot her in the back as she was leaving the compound."

Fox looked stricken at this revelation. "I…I'm sorry," he stammered out.

"Don't be," she reassured him. "It wasn't your fault, and I've had time to come to terms with her death. It's just, it seemed so _senseless_." She took a deep, calming breath and resumed her narrative. "That wasn't the end of it, though. Before his life passed from him, my mother was able to make contact with my father and tell him what she had learned. It seems that the Venomians had no intention of studying our world's ecology at all; rather, they were trying to find a way to extract energy from our planet and channel it into…something. That process was what was causing the instability in our world's crust, and by the time we finally realized what they were doing, it was too late to save our world."

Fox and Peppy were both silent for a while, until a stray thought flickered across Fox's mind. He opened his mouth to voice it, but the words caught in his throat. He let his question go unasked, since he didn't want to bring up any more sorrowful memories for Krystal, but she had already sensed the question on his mind. "You wonder what happened to my father." He hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Krystal braced herself to answer this question; this memory rivaled only her mother's death in terms of the emotional weight it carried. "Right after I learned of my mother's death, the tremors wracking Cerinia increased by tenfold. It was decided that we had to evacuate, to leave everything we knew behind us or be killed when our world grew unstable enough to fall apart. We had only a few ships capable of interstellar travel at that point, but it hardly mattered anymore; by the time we got them ready to go, most of the population had been killed in Cerinia's death throes. My father was the highest-ranking survivor by then, and gave orders to try and find as many people as we could before we left. Before we could start the search, however, the warrior contingent that the Venomians had brought with them chose that moment to attack."

Krystal paused and shuddered visibly at the memory. "He rallied our people in a desperate attempt to repulse our attackers, but it was to no avail. We were, quite plainly, outnumbered and outmatched in firepower. We tried to escape, to get to the ships, but even as we fled we were cut down without mercy. They didn't spare anyone; male or female; healthy or infirm; child, adult, or elder – no one was safe. I was the only one who managed to make it to the shuttle alive, and as I lifted off from the planet, I could see it beginning to break apart below me. There…there was no one else left alive; I am the last survivor of my people." Her narrative finished, Krystal closed her eyes and struggled to hold in the tears that those memories threatened to unleash. Fox hesitantly pulled her into a hug, trying to offer her some solace with his presence. She took comfort from his gesture and accepted the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder while she tried to bring her emotions under control again.

Peppy looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, before making any reply. "It would appear that Venom hasn't been idle since their defeat eight years ago," he said pensively. "For what it's worth, Miss Krystal, I'm sorry that we didn't learn of this sooner. Perhaps if we had…"

Krystal sniffled a bit and lifted her head to respond. "I don't think there was anything you could have done at the time," she replied. "From what I understand, your people were still recovering from a war of your own with Venom. Even if you knew of their designs, I don't think there was much you could have done to intervene." She paused for a second and then added, "I'm grateful for your concern, though."

"You're welcome," Peppy responded. "Ah, would you object if I relayed your account of these events to General Pepper? He might be interested to know what you just told us."

"Yes, please," she replied. "If more know of the fate that befell my people, perhaps it can be prevented from happening again."

"I'll keep the more personal details private," the hare reassured her. He looked at the two of them once again, smiled briefly and said, "Well, I'd better get this report written up, so I'll leave you two alone with each other. Peppy, out."

The holographic image of the hare's head winked out, right as Fox asked, "Hey, just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" The comm line had already been terminated, though, so he received no reply. Instead, he looked down to Krystal, whose head still rested on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I'm…feeling a little better," she replied. "I'm sorry for making you sit through that; you must think I'm pathetically weak now," she added despondently.

"No, Krystal, I don't think that at all," Fox said adamantly. "Actually, I'm amazed at your resilience. I doubt I'd have been able to hold it together as well as you have, were I in your position. I think you may be one of the strongest people I've ever met."

She reached out a hand to gently caress his face. "You…you really meant that, don't you?"

"Of course," he replied. "Can't you tell?"

Krystal took a careful breath before replying. "Actually, if I'm experiencing strong emotions, or if people around me are, it can make it very difficult to accurately perceive someone's thoughts, and discerning any sort of detail is all but impossible. It's like trying to listen to a whisper while you're shouting."

"Okay, I think I understand," Fox said. He thought for a minute and then asked her, "Was that the first time you've told anyone else about what happened?"

She nodded. "You and Mister Hare are the first I've ever told about that. There wasn't anyone else I could ever trust with that knowledge; in much of the galaxy, those with no home or family are often exploited by others. But I…I feel I can trust you, Fox."

He took her hand in both of his and said, "I swear to you, I will not betray your trust." Her fingers curled around his as she smiled in response. He suddenly realized just what he was doing, and a flush of crimson began to show through his facial fur, evident even in the dim light of the beacons. He didn't let go or pull his hand away from hers, however.

He looked around a little nervously and said, "So, um, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a little tired after all that we've done today. What say we get some sleep, and we can figure out what to do with the SpellStone tomorrow morning?"

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion," Krystal replied. The two of them moved to the unrolled sleeping bag, which Fox had positioned underneath the Arwing's left stabilizer airfoil against the possibility of the weather turning inclement while they slept. Krystal had yet to let go of Fox's hand, and as they reached the sleeping area, Krystal asked him, "Fox, may I ask a favor? Could...could you not let go, just yet? Just let me stay next to you, for just a little while longer."

"Um…sure," he replied uncertainly. Gratitude shone in her eyes, and she smiled and rested her head against his shoulder again. Hesitantly, Fox put an arm around her shoulders as the two of them lay back on the sleeping bag, and she snuggled in a little closer to him in response.

"Good night, Fox," she whispered to him just before she nodded off.

"Good night Krystal," he whispered in her ear, although she was already asleep by then. Fox was feeling rather tired himself, but one stray thought kept him from going to sleep just yet. He knew he felt something for Krystal, there was no sense in hiding it. He wondered if she felt something about him, too, though he was too shy around her to ask out loud just yet. Part of him said that there was little chance of a future together for the two of them, since if she didn't find the answers she was looking for here, she would have to move on. Another part whispered that one never knew what the future held, that anything could happen during their mission to save Sauria, and that if he kept playing wallflower he would lose the opportunity before he could take it. Fox vowed to himself that before this mission was over, he would find the resolve to tell her how he felt. That he wasn't quite sure what he felt didn't really enter into his decision, nor did the question of how and when would be the best time to tell her. Fox's thoughts chased each other around and around in his head, until at last he fell asleep.

* * *

_Author's note: Chapter 15, finally!  
So, since Fox was injured, I had Krystal do the relighting of the beacons for this section. There was a bit of a trick in trying to come up with a practical reason for the beacons, as well as an explanation as to why the Fire Weeds were actually necessary to reignite them.  
Also included is my take on the destruction of Krystal's homeworld. The game manual for SFA said that she was the last survivor of her world, but the intro blurb at the beginning of the game itself said that she was searching for clues to her parents' deaths. It suggested to me that the two were separate but related events, so I had it that they were killed to protect the secret of what the Venom scientists were actually trying to accomplish with their work. Part of Krystal's quest in her travels was to find out what they were killed over, so that she could thwart the plans of whoever set the whole thing up.  
By the way; Fox's example of one of his more determined fan girls was a reference to one of the people who reads this story on deviantArt and is quite enamored with him for real. Reference used w/permission. _


	16. Chapter 16

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chp. 16

_Fox stirred as he felt something brush against his face. He stirred and mumbled something unintelligible; it might have been something along the line of "Five more minutes?" Apparently whoever was trying to wake him up wouldn't take no for an answer, because he felt something touch his face again, and this time was able to identify the sensation as someone's fingertips. He still wasn't ready to open his eyes, but he heard a soft voice chide him gently; "Cone on, are you going to sleep the day away?" _

_He groaned softly, but opened his eyes to see Krystal kneeling next to him, gently stroking his cheek with one hand. He smiled hesitantly at her and said, "Hi." _

"_Hi yourself, handsome," she replied with a slight smile. He chuckled a little nervously at her rejoinder, and then her expression changed a bit, becoming more serious. She leaned down closer to him, and said, "Listen Fox, there's something I've been wanting to say to you, but I… I haven't been able to find the right words. I think it might be best if I just showed you what I mean." He opened his mouth to ask her what she was talking about, but before he could form any words, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his mouth. His eyes went wide as saucers in surprise, but as soon as he recovered his wits, he put his arms around her and pulled her closer, returning the kiss. Fox could feel his heart hammering in his chest, and he never wanted this moment to end…

* * *

_Fox's eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring at the underside of his Arwing's left stabilizer. He lifted his head slightly to see that it was almost dawn, with the sun not quite yet over the cliffs that surrounded Thorntail Hollow. He looked over to his right, where Krystal was still snuggled up to him and fast asleep, and let his head drop back to the ground in disappointment as he mumbled, "Blast!" Although it was probably too much to expect for her to be so forward, the dream he had had touched on desires and wishes that he hadn't considered in a long, long time. Even more than her beauty, it was the fire in her spirit that seemed to attract him; the way that she was willing to take on the world in order to help those in need, while the tragedy of her past made him want to comfort her.

He looked down again at her, snuggled up next to him on the sleeping bag, and thought she looked positively angelic laying there. As much as he wanted to simply remain there and gaze at her face, however, they couldn't stay there forever. He looked up again to see what things looked like in the Hollow. A heavy fog had come in during the night, blanketing the entire area in a shroud of gray vapor. The brightening of the sky over the cliffs hinted at imminent sunrise, however, and even as Fox watched, the first sliver of the brilliant orb rose above the stone walls that surrounded the region. The fog caught the light and diffused it, making it seem as though the valley was filled with golden mist. Fox stared in awe at the sight for a little while, and then quickly began to shake Krystal awake.

"Hey, wake up, you gotta see this!" he whispered urgently into her ear.

"Mmm, just a little longer…" she replied sleepily.

"No, now, or you might miss it!" he told her. Krystal sat up and blinked sleep from her eyes, then stared in amazement at the scene unfolding in front of her. The sun rose higher and higher, suffusing the area with golden light as more and more of its bulk heaved itself above the cliffs around Thorntail Hollow. In addition, the numerous tiny water drops in the air acted as tiny prisms, bending the rays of light and scattering it, causing a swirl of rainbows to appear and disappear almost as though by magic. The two foxes sat there and enjoyed the light show put on by Mother Nature, until the sun climbed higher into the sky and began to burn away the fog that had blanketed the valley. Krystal smiled in wonder and said, "Thank you, Fox. That was quite beautiful."

"Worth waking early up for?" he asked her a little mischievously.

"Oh, yes indeed." The expression on her face was one of unabashed delight, as she took joy in one of life's simple pleasures. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and then put the golden hair band back in to hold it in place. She looked back up at him and said, "What next?"

"Breakfast," he replied promptly, with an emphasis on that word that made her chuckle. She got nimbly to her feet and started towards a set of crates that she had discovered during the time she had spent trying to relight the beacons around the Hollow the other night. If things were as she had left them before…

Krystal popped the lid off the first one and smiled in satisfaction when she saw that the supplies inside were just as she had found them the other night. Secreted away inside were some Dumbledang pods, as well as several ovoid objects that were, as far as she could tell, enormous eggs of some sort. She pulled several of the pods out and one of the eggs, and carried them back to where Fox was starting a small cooking fire.

He looked up as she approached, and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of the massive egg. "Where'd you get _that_?" he asked.

"I think some of the Sharpclaws left supplies behind when they left," she answered. "I just helped myself to things they no longer need."

He nodded in understanding, but eyed the egg in her hands a little dubiously. "That's not a … _dinosaur_ egg, is it?" he asked.

"That's a PukPuk egg," Tricky said from beside him. Fox turned to look at the Earthwalker prince, as the young dinosaur continued, "The Sharpclaws raise the birds that make them, and regard them as a delicacy." Both foxes felt a little better at Tricky's explanation, and turned to the more practical problem of how to cook an egg so massive; all of the implements Fox had brought with him were far too small to hold all of its contents. They finally settled on using a large, flat piece of slate that Krystal found near the cliff as a skillet. They suspended it over the fire and poured some of the yolk and albumin on top once it was hot enough to cook on. It took several rounds before they had cooked all the egg's contents to Fox's satisfaction, but after it was all done they had a heaping platter full of scrambled eggs to serve as their morning meal, along with the Dumbledang pods.

As they were finishing up, Krystal felt the approach of one of the Thorntails that inhabited the region and gave it its name. She turned to see what it wanted, and saw that it held something in its mouth, something small and metallic. As she watched it dropped the object at her feet and told her, "The beacons mean so much to my tribe. Please, take this; maybe it can help you on your quest."

Krystal bent down to pick up the object that the Thorntail had dropped and found that it was a key of some sort. "Thank you, I'm sure it will," she replied, at the same time smiling at him and patting him on the snout. The dinosaur smiled a bit in answer to her attentions and turned to lumber off back the way he had come. Krystal brought the key over to where Fox was sitting, letting him and Tricky examine the new find for themselves.

"So, another key," Fox commented, his tone indicating that he wasn't overly excited about the new find. "Any idea to what it goes to?"

"A lock somewhere," Tricky answered promptly, causing both foxes to roll their eyes at the obviousness of his answer.

"Which one, though, is the real question," Krystal mused. "Well, we'll probably come across the lock it goes to in time. It would probably be best if we took it with us, just in case."

Fox shrugged in reply and said "Yeah, might as well. I mean, it's pretty small, and if we i_do_/i come across the lock and don't have the key, that means that we'd have to backtrack all the way to where we left it in order to progress ."

"So, what do we do next?" Krystal pondered aloud.

"Try to figure out where we need to take the SpellStone that we worked so hard to obtain," Fox replied immediately. Krystal giggled a bit on the comment about how hard they had worked to obtain the SpellStone; fighting a fifty-foot tall monster, getting _swallowed_ by said monster, and having to force it to vomit each of them back up again undoubtedly qualified as a new kind of difficult to both of them. Fox turned to regard the Earthwalker prince standing nearby, and asked him, "Tricky, any ideas on where this belongs?"

"I think it goes to the Volcano Force Point Temple," Tricky replied. "You can tell because it has the orange core and the reddish shell, as opposed to the Ocean Temple SpellStones, which have a green core and blue shell."

"Well, that's good to know," Fox said. "How do we get there?"

"Through Moon Mountain Pass," was the reply. "Follow me; I'll show you where we can get to it." The foxes cleaned up the cookware and stowed it back by the Arwing, then followed Tricky's lead toward where the trail to Moon Mountain Pass began. They ventured around the well that lay in the northeast quadrant of the valley and made their way to the entrance of a tunnel that started the path, but that had been blocked by an earth slide in the recent past. It would have impeded their progress but for the fact that Fox had recently stocked up on Bomb Spores. He planted one in the pile of dirt and rocks that blocked their way, then stepped back and let Krystal detonate it with a Fire Blaster shot from her staff. The resulting explosion scattered the soil and sent the rocks within the mound flying like bullets, but thankfully none of the trio were in their line of flight.

Fox was the first to test the newly-cleared pathway; he hesitated for a moment to check the stability of the rest of the wall, and the called out, "All clear." Krystal and Tricky followed closed behind him, but stopped once they were inside and took a look around. They were inside a tunnel, but the walls looked polished almost to mirror-smoothness, and seemed to emit a dim light that allowed them to see; both Fox and Krystal had superb night vision, but even they wouldn't be able to see in complete darkness.

They carefully made their way through the tunnel, eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble; but nothing presented itself, and several minutes later they emerged into a narrow pass that didn't look like any environment Fox had ever seen on a habitable planet before. It almost resembled a lunar surface, but he was at a loss as to what could have shaped the environment in this area in such a manner. The trio stepped out carefully onto the new terrain. The ground seemed to be composed of fine, bluish-gray sand that shifted slightly underfoot, and geysers of yellow, sulfur-smelling vapor occasionally erupted from small craters scattered haphazardly across the ground. "Lovely place," he mumbled as they started walking through the narrow pass.

"It's what's left of one of Sauria's moons, after it crashed down on the planet," Tricky said. "It happened in the distant past, and legend says that this was what gave rise to the Sharpclaw Tribe."

"Hmm," Fox mused over that for a moment.

"There doesn't appear to be a lot of life here," Krystal remarked. "But I don't think it'd be wise to assume that the area is safe. We'd best be careful." The three of them continued through the pass, making their way carefully around sharp rock outcroppings and the occasional sulfur vent, until Krystal held up a hand for them to stop. She had a distant look on her face, as though she was trying to catch a faint, far-off sound; and then her expression became more urgent, as she turned to Fox and Tricky and shouted, "Run! We've been seen!" She took off down the path, leaving them behind to wonder what she was talking about. Fox shrugged and decided that it would be better to follow her, since she seemed to know what she was talking about.

As they rounded a corner, the reason for Krystal's warning became clear. Ahead at the end of a long, straight section of the pass was what could only be a guard station, and a steady stream of barrels issued from hidden sources on either side of the path. The way was already thick with bouncing and tumbling obstacles; and as Fox watched, several of them slammed into the walls of the pass and exploded, hinting at the contents. Krystal was already most of the way to the station, dodging the hazards with consummate grace as she made her way to a blind spot in the middle of the pass.

Fox and Tricky had to be more careful, since they didn't have the head start that she had, and there were more barrels filling the area with every passing moment. Fox was grazed by one, and it knocked him squarely into the path of another, but he managed to duck in time and it sailed by harmlessly over his head. He commando-crawled the rest of the way into the blind zone, where the two dispensers that spat out the barrels had no coverage, and from there was able to make his way to where Krystal had taken shelter. Tricky bounded up next to the wall as well, and the three of them were able to pause and catch their collective breaths.

"Good call," Fox said to her as he panted from his exertion.

"Why, thank you," Krystal replied. She took a look around, seeking guidance for their next course of action, and her gaze fell on the wall that they rest against. In the middle of the wooden wall was a metal panel that had a keyhole in its center. She tapped Fox on the arm and indicated the lock with a silent gesture, and he pulled out the key that the Thorntail had given them and tested it in the lock. It slid in without a hitch, and Fox could feel the tumblers inside the lock turning and shifting as he turned the key. It was a strange sensation to him, as he was used to electronic locks that required passwords or biometric signatures, but the 'click' as the lock fell open was eminently satisfying.

The two halves of the gate swung slowly towards them, pulled outward by the force of gravity since the guard station was sitting on a slope. The hinges of the gates creaked as they slowly settled into depressions in the side of the wall that had apparently been shaped to hold them. "Now what do we do?" Fox asked.

"Now, we pay back those clowns who were dropping barrels on our heads," Krystal said with a growl. She pulled her staff out from where she had tucked it into Fox's borrowed vest and extended it out to its combat length. At Fox's inquiring look, she elaborated, "We'll probably have to pass through here again when we leave, and I for one don't feel like having to dodge another round of explosive barrels on the way back down." Fox snickered at her explanation, but couldn't really find any fault in her logic. The two of them followed the path through the gate and around to a ramp that led up into the guardhouse itself.

Fox noticed a glimmer of red out of the corner of his eye, and turned to get a better view. The shimmering field of a life-force barrier flickered over a portcullis gate that was set into the mountainside at the end of the trial. He nudged Krystal and pointed it out, saying, "Looks like we'd need to take the guards out to proceed further anyway." She nodded in acknowledgement of his statement, and the two of them raised their staffs into guard positions before they entered the building.

Their caution was warranted. Standing ready for them at one end of the bunker was a pair of Sharpclaw soldiers. One was a grunt, the breed that they were quite used to seeing; but the other was much larger, wore a spiked helmet instead of a leather skullcap, and carried a vicious-looking double-bit axe in one hand. The sight of the hulking saurian gave Fox some pause, but Krystal charged in, taking an aggressive approach that momentarily caught the Sharpclaws off guard. Fox was surprised as well, but quickly recovered his wits and rushed the Sharpclaws as well, so that Krystal wouldn't be facing both guards on her own.

Between the two of them they were able to knock out the smaller grunt in record time, allowing both of them to focus on the bigger threat. The brutish Sharpclaw didn't seem overly fazed by the fall of his smaller comrade, but immediately charged Fox, swinging away with his axe. The vulpine pilot ducked a sideways chop that would have decapitated him, and then had to block a vertical slice that would have split him in two had it connected. In focusing exclusively on Fox, however, the Sharpclaw had completely ignored Krystal, who was as much as threat as Fox was. She slammed the cap of her staff down on the back of the brute's head, dazing him but not knocking him out completely. He turned to face the blue vixen, who responded with a kick to his stomach that knocked him back into Fox's attack – a baseball-style swing that finished what Krystal had begun and sent the Sharpclaw into oblivion.

"Whew, that was a tough one," Fox remarked after the dust had settled.

"They're big, but they're a little clumsy," Krystal remarked. "Their size gives them a lot of strength, but they can't turn very quickly. And, they're no smarter than the rank-and-file soldiers either."

"You sound like you've tangled with some of them before."

"At Cape Claw, just before my ship got stolen," Krystal told him, her expression darkening slightly at the memory. She changed the subject. "Well, the barrier is probably down now, so the way ahead should be clear."

The three of them continued on and entered through the doorway that the gate had blocked. As soon as they passed though, they were struck by a wave of scorching heat that felt almost like a physical blow. Fox was the first to comment on it; "Whew, it feels like an oven in here!"

"Well, it _is_ the _Volcano_ Force Point Temple," Krystal remarked dryly. The point was re-emphasized when they came to a dip in the walkway and looked over the edge to see a glowing pool of lava seething below. The only way across was a trio of small platforms that protruded from the walls, and a single misstep would mean a quick and fiery death in the molten rock below. Krystal looked up and asked, "So, who wants to go first?"

"I'll go if no one else wants to," Fox spoke up. Krystal was grateful for his decision, although she could still clearly sense the apprehension in his mind over what he was about to do. He started a couple of paces away from the edge, then ran and jumped from the side they were on to the first platform. He bounced from the first to the second and the third, and then landed safely on the other side. He dusted himself off, then looked back to the others and said, "It's not too difficult; just make sure you have enough speed before you jump." Krystal and Tricky followed his lead, and once the party was reassembled they set off deeper into the volcano.

There were a few more obstacles, like a pillar of flames that they had to carefully time their passage around, and a narrow rock bridge over another seething pool of lava, but finally they made their way past the hazards and stood on a grated metal bridge that led into the Temple proper. The bridge arched over a pool of molten rock; but at the top of the arch, halfway across the bridge, was a circular barrier that blocked their way. It looked like it would spin in place, so Fox put his shoulder against it and started pushing. It didn't budge, and he called out, "Hey Krystal, Tricky, could you two give me a hand here?"

"Um, Fox?" Krystal interrupted. He turned to look at her and saw that she was pointing down to a circular panel on the floor in front of the gate. Impressed into the panel was a depression in the shape of the SpellStone, and its significance was only slightly less than blindingly obvious. Feeling just a little foolish, Fox hauled the SpellStone out of his backpack and pressed it into the indent. The SpellStone clicked into the slot as though it was magnetized, - and then sparks flickered between the stone and the panel, and the gate in front of them rotated out of the way, leaving the path to the Temple's entrance clear. Fox pulled the stone back out of the depression and the group started down the other side of the bridge, but paused when they saw what was waiting for them at the Temple's main door.

There was another Sharpclaw soldier, stationed right in front of the door. This one was a bit smaller than the brute that they had faced in the guard station, but he was clad in full upper-body armor and metal helm, and carried a heavy iron shield in addition to the axe he held in his right hand. The Sharpclaw stood his ground in front of the door and didn't rush them; he knew that they had to get past him to enter the Temple, and as long as he stayed put, they would have to come to him.

The two foxes spread out so that if the Sharpclaw turned to face one of them, he would present his back to the other. The Sharpclaw turned to face Fox, believing that the male vulpine was the more dangerous opponent. Fox took a swing at the Sharpclaw, who blocked it with his shield and countered with a flurry of axe swings. The vulpine pilot was quickly forced on the defensive, raising his silver staff to a horizontal guard position to ward off the hail of blows. The Sharpclaw pressed his attack relentlessly, hoping to knock out this opponent quickly so he could deal with the female at his leisure - but he had sorely underestimated the threat that Krystal represented.

Krystal knew that the armor the Sharpclaw soldier wore would negate the effect of most physical attacks, but metal armor was all but useless against energy blasts. When the Sharpclaw turned to attack Fox, she leveled her staff at the saurian's unguarded back and triggered its Fire Blaster. Three sizzling bolts of energy burned their way through the armor and into the flesh of the dinosaur's back, blasting gaping craters into his hide and toppling him to the ground. The Sharpclaw twitched and spasmed for a couple of seconds before he finally lay still.

"Thanks," Fox said a little breathlessly as he straightened up and put his staff away. With the immediate danger taken care of, he was able to take the time to examine the massive doors that formed the entrance to the actual Temple. There was another depression in the door that looked like it would accommodate the SpellStone, but this time a series of bars across the door blocked access to it. There didn't seem to be any obvious way to removed them, so Fox looked around the edges of the door for clues. A small stone panel on the left near the door caught his eye, and he leaned down to get a closer look. There was something inscribed on the panel, but it was nothing like Lylat Standard, and he had no idea of what it meant. He looked up and called, "Hey Tricky, Krystal, do either of you have any idea what this sign says?"

Both of his companions crowded in close to see what he was referring to. Tricky tried to see what the inscription was, but the various tribes of Sauria had never really developed the skill to read or write, so he had no idea what the symbols etched into the stone meant. Krystal leaned in closer, and to her surprise was able to decipher the writing with only slight difficulty. "Only he who lights the orbs of the Krazoa may pass," she read.

Fox looked more than a little surprised. "You can actually read that?" he asked incredulously.

"It's remarkably similar to inscriptions found on ancient ruins on Cerinia," she informed him. "And don't forget, I specialized in translating and interpreting languages when I lived there."

"I was more surprised that this was something you would recognize," Fox clarified. "I never would have thought that would happen." That matter was a largely academic one at this point, and trumped by a far more pressing issue. "So, what do you think it means by 'the orbs of the Krazoa'?" They looked around the chamber, but nothing seemed to fit the profile until Fox caught a gleam of reflected light out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to identify the source, and saw two spherical objects high up on the wall, level with the top of the doors. Both of them shone with light reflected from the lava that seethed in the pool below; the one on the left was blue in color, the one on the right was green.

Fox pointed his staff at one of them and triggered the Fire Blaster, but the energy projectile had no noticeable effect on the orb. He was at a loss about how to light the things, but Krystal noticed a pair of torches burning on top of the end columns of the bridge on their side of it. Every few seconds, the color of the torches shifted from red to blue to green, the whole cycle repeating in an endless loop. Inspiration struck the young vixen's mind, and she took a couple of steps back onto the bridge to line herself up with the left torch and orb. She waited until the flame turned blue and then sent a Fire Blaster shot through the flame to strike the orb. The shot picked up the color of the flame as it passed through, and when it struck the orb absorbed it and started to glow a vibrant blue color. Krystal repeated the procedure for the green orb on the right, and the bars slid back out of the way, allowing Fox to press the SpellStone into the spot on the door and clear the way for them to enter the Temple.

The first room was simply a long, imposing hall that ended in a gated archway, warded by another life force barrier. Fox didn't know of any enemies left behind that would account for the barrier's presence; but even as he turned around to see if there was something they'd missed, he saw a line of four Sharpclaws blocking the way out. Two were regular grunts, but the other two were elite guards like the one they had just taken out earlier. "Where'd they come from?!" he blurted out.

"I don't know; they just appeared out of nowhere!" Krystal answered.

"What do you mean, they appeared out of nowhere?"

"I mean, when I turned around after I saw that the way was blocked, I saw them materialize out of thin air in front of us!" she elaborated. "A more pressing question is how do we take them out?"

Even as she said this, the Sharpclaws began to advance towards them. Both foxes raised their staffs into combat-ready positions and braced themselves for an attack. Fox looked left and right across the incoming line of soldiers, and the beginnings of a plan began to form in his mind. "Krystal, I'll take the two on the right, you get the two on the left," he told her.

For a moment, he thought she was going to argue, but she nodded and said, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do… I think," Fox tried to reassure her. "Try to flatten the grunts as fast as you can, so we can focus on the officers." He glanced back behind himself and said, "Tricky, if you see an opening, try to run up behind the Sharpclaws and flame them. That might be enough to turn the battle in our favor."

Tricky looked uncertain. "I'll try…" There was no more time for further planning, as the Sharpclaws attacked _en masse_, forcing them onto the defensive. The two foxes quickly split up and rushed their respective groups of enemies, catching the oncoming Sharpclaws off guard for a few critical moments. They used that time to thrash both of the smaller Sharpclaws into oblivion; then, as the bodies disappeared, they turned to face the larger and much more dangerous ones. Each of the elite Sharpclaws squared off to face one of the foxes, advancing a little more cautiously now that their compatriots were out of the picture.

Fox and Krystal gave their respective targets no chance to regain their equilibrium, but charged in immediately. Krystal led with a high overhand swing, which her Sharpclaw blocked with his shield and countered with a horizontal axe swing that would have disemboweled her if it connected. Krystal ducked under the swing and slammed her staff against the Sharpclaw's right kneecap. He hissed in pain and anger, and tried to decapitate her with a vertical chop, which she dodged while thrusting the cap of her staff straight into his abdomen. The impact knocked the breath from her opponent's lungs for a brief moment, but given time he would quickly recover and make her pay dearly for her offense.

He wasn't given that time. Even as the knob hit home, Krystal triggered the Fire Blaster and blew a gaping crater in the Sharpclaw's belly. His eyes bugged out at the sensation of the wound, and then he slowly toppled backwards and dissolved into motes of light once his body hit the floor. Krystal turned to see how Fox was faring, but it seemed that he had things almost wrapped up on his end also.

Fox approached his Sharpclaw a bit more carefully than Krystal had. He knew he lacked the finesse that she had with the weapon, and the Sharpclaw was too well-armored to be easily bludgeoned like the regular grunts were. Fortunately, there were other strategies open to him. Fox feinted a high attack, and when the Sharpclaw tried to block it he reversed his swing and rapped the staff across the dinosaur's toes. The Sharpclaw hissed at the impact, though more out of irritation than pain, and tried to split the fox's skull open with his axe. Fox dodged to the side and slammed the heavy cap of his staff up into the Sharpclaw's unprotected elbow. Bellowing in pain and rage, it charged after the vulpine pilot, completely ignoring the smaller figure stealing up behind it.

Once Fox had completely occupied the Sharpclaw's attention, Tricky saw the opportunity to sneak in close under the enemy's guard. As soon as the young Earthwalker saw an opening, he darted in close and breathed a long plume of fire up the armored skirt that protected the Sharpclaw's legs. The metal plates trapped the flames and amplified their effects, and soon the Sharpclaw was thrashing about in a frenzy, trying to cool the super-hot metal that was branding his legs. His attention was anywhere but on his opponent, and that distraction gave Fox all the opening he needed to thrash the Sharpclaw into oblivion. The life-force barrier dissipated as soon as the last Sharpclaw hit the ground, allowing them to progress deeper into the Volcano.

The next room they entered was a cavernous expanse, with a ladder that led to an upper level and several Krazoa statues spaced evenly around the walkway. In the middle of the floor was a grate that allowed them to look down into another chamber, but there didn't seem to be any way to remove it. There didn't appear to be any other way out of the room, either, leading Fox to wonder aloud if this was a dead end. He scaled the ladder to see if there was any sort of hint on the upper level. Krystal, meanwhile, had wandered to the far end of the room, and there she saw another stone plaque like the one that was outside the entrance. Some of the letters were obscured by a layer of dust, so she carefully brushed it off and was able to read the words: "Only he who dims the flames of the Krazoa may pass." She looked up and asked, "Fox, do you see anything that would fit the description 'flame of the Krazoa'?"

"Yeah, each of these statues is holding a basin that has a red flame in it," he replied from where he was standing on the ladder. "But how are we supposed to put them out? I left the fire extinguisher on the Great Fox." When she didn't reply to that, he looked back over his shoulder to see her with her eyes closed and a look of concentration on her face, as though she was trying to catch some faint sound. "Krystal?" he inquired.

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes and turned to face him. "I think there might be another secret cave nearby," she told him. "It would probably hold what we need." She started up the ladder, and Fox hurried the rest of the way up to clear the way for her. Once they were both on the upper level, Krystal called back down, "Don't worry, Tricky, we'll be back in just a moment."

"Don't be gone too long, okay?" Tricky answered nervously. The prospect of being alone in the massive, foreboding expanse of the Temple was quite a daunting one to the young Earthwalker.

The two foxes made their way around the upper section of the room, in search of the sensation that Krystal said indicated the presence of one of the secret caves that would allow them to add powers to their staffs. The path wove around half the room then angled off into an annex that led past a couple of flame jets, which they had to carefully maneuver past, then curved back around to rejoin the main chamber at a different spot. They picked their way past a couple more statues, and then found a side path that led to a small room. It was mostly unremarkable, except for a small hole in the center that had rays of green-tinted light streaming out of it, and the way that their staffs began to glimmer and shake in their hands.

They dropped down the hole one after the other, and made their way down the narrow passage to the chamber at the end. In the middle of a small pool of water was another one of the pedestals that Fox had come to be familiar with over the course of his travels on Sauria, which meant that there was another special power that he and Krystal could add to their staffs. Fox was mystified as to how the things worked in the first place; Krystal seemed to know more about them, but was more curious as to how the caverns here were compatible with something that originated many hundreds of light-years away.

The answers to that question were unlikely to be answered anytime in the near future, and certainly not in this place. There were more urgent things that needed to be taken care of, anyway. They placed their staffs in the pedestal, Krystal first and then Fox, and watched the fireworks as the weapons were imbued with new powers. Once the pyrotechnic show was over, they examined the weapons to see what had changed. "So, what did we get now?" Fox asked.

"The Ice Blast," Krystal answered promptly. "Sounds like the perfect tool for this place, no?"

"Yeah," Fox agreed absently, wondering just a little about the convenience of finding this thing here and now. He shook off the feeling as being counterproductive, and started back out through the tunnel. "Let's go see what we can do with these now," he called over his shoulder to Krystal.

They made their way back out into the large main chamber, where Fox could see Tricky still sitting and looking a little forlorn in the middle of the floor, on top of the grate that looked down over the floor below. The pilot pointed the staff at the first statue's brazier and pressed the glyph that would activate his staff's newest ability. The tip of the staff blew out a jet of super-cold air that caused any water vapor in the immediate area to condense into a cloud of ice crystals, and after a couple of seconds it snuffed the flame completely. Fox paused only a moment to admire his handiwork, and then saw Krystal vault over the knee-height wall that bordered the outer edge of the upper walkway. "Hey, what are you doing?" he called after her.

Krystal landed on her feet and did a forward somersault to bleed off the momentum of her drop, before turning to look back at Fox. "You've got those ones there, so I'll get these over here," she called to him. Fox shrugged at her answer, but he really couldn't refute the logic in it; there was little point in both of the working on the same set of torches. He leveled his staff at the second flame and started to douse it, while Krystal scrambled up the ladder that led back up to the upper level, on the other side of the room, and between the two of them it was only a matter of seconds to snuff the remaining flames.

The instant the last flame died, the grate began to rumble, startling Tricky off of it. The Earthwalker Prince scampered a few paces away from the place where he had been sitting, and then turned around to look at what was happening. Fox and Krystal dropped down from the balcony and moved to join him in staring at the hole in the middle of the floor. As they watched, a stone panel floated up from the floor below and up to the level of the grate, which slid aside as the platform rose into place. The three of them stepped onto the platform, and after a second it began to sink again, bringing them down and ever further into the heart of the Temple.

* * *

_A/N: Whew, at last, the next chapter is up. I don't think this one was my best writing, it kind of felt like I was struggling through it at some points, but I hope that I can pick it up better on the next chapter. I'm going to take a break and work on finishing Dark Orbit, so that I can get that done and out of the way and have one less story to hve to work on. I may work on something else if I have writer's block on Dark Orbit, but otherwise I plan to focus on that and get it finished. As always, please R&R! :)_


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